Frankfurt — Thomas Cook Group has said that unusually hot weather is making northern Europeans far less enthusiastic about booking last-minute beach holidays, weighing on the UK tour operator’s earnings. Summer bookings for the company’s tour businesses up to July 21 were unchanged from last year, according to a statement on Tuesday. Reservations had been up 3% to the end of May, leaving the outlook for full-year earnings at the lower end of market expectations, it said. Overall bookings across the group rose 11%, with the average selling prices falling 3% due to lower-yielding trips. "The sustained period of hot weather in June and July has led to a delay in customer bookings," CEO Peter Fankhauser said in the statement, adding that this has hampered the company’s ability to raise margins by selling more last-minute trips. The shares fell as much as 5% before rebounding to trade 4% higher. The first half of the summer across large parts of Europe has been marked by extreme weather,...
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