TUI Group closed financial Q4 well after a strong summer, achieving its own target of a significantly positive operating result for the full year. Operations in a largely normal environment only started for the Group with the last financial quarter due to late lifted Corona restrictions, the impact of the Ukraine war as well as external operational challenges at the start of the summer, especially at airports. 7.6 million guests traveled with TUI in the months from July to September. At 7.61 billion euros, revenue more than doubled year-on-year (3.37 billion euros). Underlying EBIT reached 1.04 billion euros in Q4. Excluding the costs incurred for additional flight disruptions of 58 million euros, underlying EBIT was 1.1 billion euros.
TUI intends to significantly broaden its product portfolio by making the traditional package tour, which is made up of previously purchased components, much more flexible and individual, and thus more dynamic. Customers will be able to combine hotel allotments and flights available at short notice according to their individual wishes. This will create new and additional offerings, such as city breaks, with which the Group can also attract new customers.
In addition, travel components such as hotel accommodation and flights, or additional services such as rental cars or excursions, will be offered separately and individually throughout the Group in the future. The growth strategies already initiated for the Group's own brands in the Holiday Experiences segment will be continued. TUI intends to further expand its hotel and hotel brand offering and increase its market presence. In Hotels & Resorts, the asset-right strategy, which was already launched in 2019, will continue to be implemented. New properties will be added to the portfolio worldwide, whereby TUI does not necessarily own the property but develops and designs the hotel experience itself with its own brands and, for example, through management contracts or joint ventures. The portfolio of hotels is also to be expanded via the recently launched TUI Global Hotel Fund.
In the cruises sector, the successful joint venture TUI Cruises is due to deliver three new cruise ships already commissioned before the pandemic.
The strategically important and particularly fast-growing TUI Musement sector will also significantly broaden its range of products and services. For example, the new platform for the individual compilation of round trips was recently launched. The "TUI Tours" offering will initially be piloted to Belgian guests and will also be offered in other markets, including Germany, from 2023. In addition, the segment is also growing with stronger demand from tour operators in the markets.
Solid operating cash flow in Q4 led to full-year cash flow of 1.7 billion euros in 2022. Net debt was reduced significantly, to 3.4 billion euros at 30 September 2022, compared with 5.0 billion euros a year earlier. At the same time the Group continues to have a strong liquidity position of 3.7 billion euros and therefore sufficient financial resources to cover the typically weaker seasonal winter. In order to further reduce debt and lower the interest burden, TUI has agreed a path with the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) to repay the Corona aid in full. By the end of 2023, Silent Participation I for a nominal amount of 420 million euros and the remaining convertible portion of the warrant-linked bond subscribed in full by the WSF for a nominal amount of 59 million euros are to be repaid. In addition, the Group also intends to significantly reduce the KfW credit lines (currently 2.1 billion euros). To finance the repayment, TUI initially plans to reduce its capital stock, to be approved by the Annual General Meeting in February 2023. The reduction is to be achieved through two capital increases in the framework of a rights offering and the volume of shares already authorized.
At 7.6 million, guest numbers in Q4 reached 93 percent of Q4 2019 levels on a like-for-like basis. For the full Summer 2022, TUI recorded 13.7 million guests. Revenue more than doubled, from 3.37 billion euros in the year-ago quarter to 7.61 billion euros. If the costs incurred as a result of the delays and disruptions, particularly at the airports, are disregarded, underlying EBIT amounts to 1.1 billion euros. Including these costs of 58 million euros, underlying EBIT in the reporting period is 1.04 billion euros.
The Cruises sector, comprising TUI Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Marella Cruises, sailed its full fleet of 16 ships in Q4 and reported a strong increase in underlying EBIT to 103 million euros – following a loss in the previous year (-43 million euros). The significant year-on-year improvement is supported by the fact that all ships in the fleet were in service. TUI Cruises also achieved its second positive quarter in terms of earnings after taxes (66 million euros). At 2.4 million, the number of available passenger days was 30 percent up on the previous year. Load factors also improved, ranging from 80 to 93 percent across all cruise brands, compared to 39 to 53 percent in the same period last year. Rates also increased significantly year-on-year.
The business environment remains challenging in the current winter 2022/23, mainly due to external factors. In particular, the impact of the war in Ukraine and the ongoing impact of the Corona pandemic are factored into the outlook, along with inflation, high energy prices and exchange rate fluctuations. TUI's tour operators (Markets & Airlines) are planning a programme for the current Winter 2022/23 that is roughly in line with pre-crisis levels. However, the Group reserves the right to flexibly adjust capacity to customer demand.
Currently, 2.7 million bookings have been received for the 2022/23 winter season and 52 percent of the programme has been sold. As a result, cumulative bookings are at 134 percent of the previous 2021/22 Winter season and 84 percent of the 2018/19 Winter season, with 1.4 million bookings added since the September booking update. The U.K. remains the most advanced with +5 percent booking levels and average prices of +23 percent compared to winter 2018/19. The trend towards a higher share of short-term bookings, already prevalent in summer, continues in winter, with overall volumes in the last four weeks at -4 percent, almost the same as in winter 2018/19. Average prices are +28 percent higher than winter 2018/19 and 7 percent higher than winter 2021/22, which will help cushion the impact of exchange rate volatility and currently higher inflation.
For the current fiscal year 2023, the Group expects a strong increase in revenue and a significant increase in underlying EBIT.
The TUI Group is one of the world's leading tourism groups and operates worldwide. The Group is headquartered in Germany. TUI shares are listed in the MDAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in the regulated market of the Lower Saxony Stock Exchange in Hanover. TUI Group offers its 20 million customers integrated services from a single source and forms the entire tourism value chain under one roof. The Group owns over 400 hotels and resorts with premium brands such as RIU, TUI Blue and Robinson and 17 cruise ships, ranging from the MS Europa and MS Europa 2 in the luxury class and expedition ships in the HANSEATIC class to the Mein Schiff fleet of TUI Cruises and cruise ships operated by Marella Cruises in the UK. The Group also includes Europe's leading tour operator brands and online marketing platforms, for example for hotel-only or flight-only offers, five airlines with more than 130 modern medium- and long-haul aircraft and around 1,200 travel agencies. In addition to expanding its core business with hotels and cruises via successful joint ventures and activities in vacation destinations, TUI is increasingly focusing on the expansion of digital platforms. The Group is transforming itself into a global tourism platform company.
Global responsibility for sustainable economic, environmental and social action is at the heart of our corporate culture. With projects in 25 countries, the TUI Care Foundation initiated by TUI focuses on the positive effects of tourism, on education and training and on strengthening environmental and social standards. In this way, it supports the development of vacation destinations. The globally active TUI Care Foundation initiates projects that create new opportunities for the next generation.