That’s quite a trick: announce a hefty two-for-five rights issue while simultaneously asking the market to consume a placing of shares, and yet see the share price rise 13%.
The company is Thomas Cook. Obituaries were being prepared 18 months ago as a debt crisis threatened to become overwhelming, but these days the package holiday firm is everybody’s favourite recovery stock. It has travelled from 16p to 164p in less than a year under new chief executive Harriet Green, who has surprised herself with the savings she has found.
She announced another £40m yesterday, meaning her target for “cost out” and profit improvement by the end of 2015 has increased from £350m to £390m. Outsiders suspected unlamented former boss Manny Fontenla-Novoa had assembled a disjointed and inefficient travel empire. Few knew a hard-headed newcomer could cut so much cost so quickly.
The other reason for the
Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2013/may/17/thomas-cook