Thomas Cook said today that it made an annual loss of £2.6m sterling as the British tourism group was hit by weak demand in Britain and disruption to flights caused by the volcanic ash cloud.
The company made a net loss of £2.6m in the 12 months to the end of September compared with profit after tax of £7m in 2008/09, it said in a statement.
'We recognised at the outset that 2009/10 would be demanding given the uncertain economic outlook and, accordingly, we took early action to deal with the challenges,' said Thomas Cook chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa.
'While we made good progress in many of our operating segments and delivered a strong improvement in operating cash flow, trading in the UK was even tougher than anticipated', he said.
'As we enter the current year, although the UK environment remains uncertain, we are encouraged by a better market environment in our major Continental and Scandinavian markets,' he said.
'Winter bookings have got off to a good start and, although early in the cycle, summer bookings are developing well,' he added.
Thomas Cook added that annual group revenue fell 4% to £8.89 billion - mainly reflecting planned capacity reductions in its winter programme and lost sales as a result of Iceland's volcanic ash cloud.
