Thomas Cook denies rumours of insolvency in Germany

March 25th, 2019 Serge Fabre No Comment News Angleterre, Brexit, Handelsblatt, Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook 3668 views

A precautionary request is requested by the « Green Party

The Handelsblatt said that the Green Group will make a request to the Bundestag for a precautionary request to consumers.

A document will be submitted by Markus Tressel (sitting in the German Parliament), and Renate Künast, who defends green consumers.

The political group demands that holiday payments be fully insured, even in the event of « mega-bankruptcy » in the travel industry.

So far, insurance companies have only been liable for a total loss of 110 million euros.

The Green Party does not give a name but TC is targeted

The request to the Bundestag concerns tourism companies established throughout Europe that may have difficulties, particularly because of Brexit. As the German newspaper states, » it is clear that the description given applies only to Thomas Cook « .

The Thomas Cook group had poor results

Thomas Cook had a « disappointing » year in 2018, as Peter Fankhauser, the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, had said. While sales increased by 6%, the group posted a net loss of £163 million (approximately €190 million).

After the generally weak winter quarter, net debt would have even reached £1.6 billion.

The environmental group wants to better protect holidaymakers

In the event of the insolvency of a TO such as TC, customers are insured, however the German Federal Government has limited the total amount of insurance to 110 million euros, as it feared excessive insurance premiums. The Greens are calling for an increase of at least 300 million euros. If this is not enough, they would like Parliament to examine other systems for securing customer deposits.

Thomas Cook rejects any speculation

The Thomas Cook Group rejects the Handelsblatt’s speculation that a request to the Bundestag was intended to ensure insolvency in connection with a possible bankruptcy of the group.

According to a statement by Thomas Cook, » Brexit is a major political and economic challenge and puts pressure on many sectors of the economy. It is understandable that the Greens are concerned about consumer protection. But this subject is not new and has no causal link with our society. This application is based on speculative scenarios, by ignoring extremely complex relationships and causing uncertainty for consumers … « .

Serge Fabre