Thomas Cook’s share price has crashed

Update: Thomas Cook has filed for bankruptcy

After over 175 years in business, you’d expect Thomas Cook to be a bit more resilient to the changes in the market. The likes of Woolworths have shown what can happen when you don’t keep up with the times, and Thomas Cook is in danger of falling to the same fate.

Embarrassing share price

10 years ago Thomas Cook’s share price was sitting at just under £3 per share. This slumped in 2012 but eventually recovered well. The shares now, however, are well and truly in a rut – one which they may never get out of. Shares are now available for a little over 10p, which reflects their numerous problems with profits – they’re even trying to sell off their airplanes.

We recommend that you accept the loss and sell your stocks. We think the company will end up going into bankruptcy.

Huge losses

Thomas Cook reported huge losses in the first half of the year with £1.5bn being lost, with most of that being due to having to write down the value of a company they merged with in 2007, My Travel. Consumers moving away from packaged deals has also hit them hard. For a long time customers were happy with packaged deals as it took away the stress of trying to sort everything out yourself. Now with sites such as Skyscanner, Trivago, and AirBnB, people are a lot more inclined to make their own packages.

Panicking customers

Thomas Cook has had to take the step of reassuring customers that they aren’t going out of business. The attempted sale of its planes and the closing of stores have caused many people to presume the worse. It doesn’t seem as though that will happen soon, but the company is desperately trying to streamline its business. Once it’s able to cut costs and receive a cash injection from the sales, it will be hoping to return from the bottom of the barrel. Tui has shown that a travel business is still able to thrive. Hopefully, Thomas Cook can make the required changes and come back strongly.