The once-troubled British business reported £33m profits before interest and tax for the three months to June, bolstered by a rejuvenated market for last-minute deals and city breaks in mainland Europe.
The company credited the dramatic rise - compared against £1m over the same period in 2013 - to increased appetite for its new products and a £51m cost-cutting regime executed in the third quarter.
City breaks and Thomas Cook’s recently launched “concept hotels”, such as adult-only or budget-travel facilities, were among the biggest drivers of increased demand.
It also claims to have seen stronger late-summer bookings in the UK, Germany and northern Europe, and encouraging bookings for the winter 2014-15 and summer 2015 seasons.
Chief executive Harriet Green said efforts to streamline the holiday provider had “transformed” Thomas Cook from “silos” in 18 markets around the world to “one global business”.
Reflecting on the company’s reversal of fortune, Ms Green said: “Two years ago Thomas Cook was most unwell, and we’ve been driving an ongoing transformation.
“Our strongest performer was the UK, where we doubled earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), and we are on track to take out £150 million of costs by the end of September 2015.
“Efforts to make the business leaner, fitter and better have had a big impact. We’ve also massively improved the quality of our product and there has been stronger demand from our customers.”
Michael Healy, Thomas Cook’s chief financial officer, explained that reduced costs had been achieved through integrating the company’s four separate airlines and increasing efficiency in historically separate branches of the UK business.
The quarterly figures reported a statutory EBIT for the three months to join of a £43 million loss, explained by a series of one-off costs associated with the campaign to streamline operations.
Restructuring costs of £30 million were combined with a £29m contingency fund put aside by Thomas Cook after a landmark ruling this year paved the way for compensation claims for flight delays.
The Court of Appeals ruling created the potential for travellers to claims money back from the cost of flights delayed by routine technical problems.
Jet2, the airline implicated in the original case, have applied to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal the decision and, if granted, a review is likely to take place in late 2015.
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