TUI-CFO Mathias Kiep: Wir planen mit 25 Prozent Wachstum!

🎥 Jul 08, 2024 📺 DER AKTIONÄR TV ⏱ 5m 👁 3974 views

Die TUI AG kehrt nach rund zehn Jahren zurück in die Heimat. Ab heute ist die Aktie wieder über die deutschen Börsenplätze erhältlich. Trotz der ein oder anderen Enttäuschung in der Vergangenheit ist das Unternehmen für die Zukunft positiv gestimmt. Mit CFO Mathias Kiep sprechen wir über eine mögliche Dividende, die hohe Verschuldung und Pläne zur CO2-Vermeidung. 👍 Mehr aktuelle Infos, Tipps und Analysen auf www.deraktionaer.de: https://tiny.li/Qddg 👍 Hier geht's zur aktuellen Ausgabe von DER AKTIONÄR: https://tiny.li/2edg ----- ►► Folgen Sie uns hier:◄◄ 📈 LinkedIn: / der_aktionär 🎭 Face...

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Transcript (17 segments)

Interviewer0:08

Dear viewers, with these temperatures you can easily catch travel fever, and that fits well because at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the German Stock Exchange, everything today revolves around TUI AG. After almost 10 years, the company is returning from London to Germany. What that's all about and how TUI will continue in the future, I'm discussing today with the CFO, Mr. Mathias Kiep. Nice to have you here, good morning. Thank you, Mr. Kiep. This morning a very, very good stock market start, plus 4%, the stock currently. How is the mood?

Mathias Kiep0:37

That's of course great, first of all great that we have come back home to the German stock exchange today. We can only say thank you to the London Stock Exchange for 10 years, but to be able to make such a start today is of course great, we are very happy about that.

Interviewer0:51

What do you hope for from the return from London to Germany?

Mathias Kiep0:53

Very good question. Yes, because in fact, we had a very clear vote from shareholders 10 years ago to go to London, and now in February a very, very clear vote from our shareholders to return to Frankfurt. And in the end, volume comes to one place, liquidity only at one stock exchange, dual structures are always expensive, that disappears, and what many missed is a clear anchor index. And we expect that we will quickly get into the NX and accordingly these three elements together, I think that makes us a bit confident.

Interviewer1:26

Let's talk a bit more about the stock itself, specifically the topic of dividends. In 2018, it was very, very strong with €6.50 per share, and in recent years there was nothing at all. What does the future look like? Is something planned, and if so, when?

Mathias Kiep1:41

We have a plan, and I believe in the first step we want to bring the company to the right profitability level. This year we have set ourselves the goal of growing operating profit by at least 25%. At the same time, we still have some homework to do in refinancing. The small line at KfW has been halved again, but we want to get all that done. We still have homework to do with the rating agencies, working with them to get back to where we were before the pandemic. And then I think we have the right ingredients for a solid, serious dividend strategy.

Interviewer2:16

Is there perhaps already a rough time frame for when that could be planned?

Mathias Kiep2:20

The credit lines need to be replaced by 2026. You should have done that a year before to have peace in the process, and I think then we will also know where the company is. Then we can formulate a very good dividend strategy, and we can understand that shareholders will demand that from us, but we also have the ambition to be able to pay dividends again at some point, of course.

Interviewer2:42

Topic of sustainability or CO2 avoidance is becoming increasingly important. Have you already made calculations on what costs might come in the future and how do you generally want to approach this topic?

Mathias Kiep2:55

Yes, a really important topic, and we have to face it, we want to face it. A very good example is our airline. We are already investing massively in more efficient aircraft, now moving to the new Max aircraft from Boeing, and that will be a significant step to achieve reduction in the airline, for example. We have had ourselves checked and tested, 25% reduction in the airline in the near future, and as I said, the aircraft are already a big topic for us.

Interviewer3:28

Perhaps a brief digression: Boeing is currently under criticism and naturally cannot deliver all the aircraft that were planned. Are you also affected by this, or are you in the green zone in that regard?

Mathias Kiep3:38

We are in the green zone when it comes to the handling of our holidays, if I may say so. We have enough equipment to get all customers where they want to go. You mentioned at the beginning, into the sun, the weather is not so reliable here in these latitudes. We can definitely say that it is more work, that not every delivery date is so reliable. I think we see that with Airbus today, but also very strongly with Boeing. As long as no one is left at the gate, I think that's quite positive.

Interviewer4:04

Then we come to the conclusion, once again on the topic of debt. You already touched on it, it is currently very high compared to other companies. How does it look in the future? Are you optimistic that you can reduce it sensibly?

Mathias Kiep4:17

Yes, the fact is that we are already lower in debt, in relative debt, than in 2019, which is our reference year before the crisis. This year we will make another step to get the debt towards net debt. That will probably be the lowest level the company has had for a very long time. But that must continue: increase earnings and not let debt rise with it. That must be our task.

Interviewer4:45

Yes, other companies are also in debt, no question. With TUI, in the past, one thought that the one or other bad news or this debt was already priced into the stock, but the stock still suffered or did not perform. Why do you think your company, your stock, is viewed more critically by market participants than others?

Mathias Kiep5:06

I think we have to deliver quarter by quarter, implement what we promise every quarter. We also see that this always has a positive effect. But also the change of stock exchange, the capital increase is now a year ago, that we have cleaned up the balance sheet, complete refinancing. These are all topics that need their time to take effect, and I think that is what we will do. We are on a good path, but continue to deliver quarter by quarter, that is what we have set out to do, and I hope that helps. So with this start today in Germany, we are positive for the future.

Interviewer5:40

That's how it should be. Then I thank you for the interview, thank you very much for your time. Yes, dear viewers, at TUI the future looks very, very positive. Thank you for watching, take care.