MyTravelGroup plc stock is in a pile of trouble, having lost more
than half its value recently.
Better known by its original name Airtours, the U.K.-based
company saw its stock fall even farther last week. Although the
company won’t show the $165 million profit previously projected for
this year, it still expects to make a profit of about $75 million,
according to a spokesman.
The stock started its tumble as the firm revealed a number of
accounting errors combined with aggressive accounting practices
sanctioned by previous auditors Arthur Andersen and successors
Deloitte & Touche.
A third profits warning this year led to the recent resignation
of CEO Tim Byrne; he was succeeded by Peter McHugh, who has been
CEO of MyTravel USA.
The group, which operates a major, vertically integrated tour
business in the United Kingdom, also owns companies on the
Continent and in North America, most notably SunTrips in San Jose,
Calif., and Travel Services International in Florida.
TSI encompasses Auto Europe and a number of big cruise
retailers, among other operations.
The spokesman said he believed all the bad news was out now and
that the markets could put the stock price back into balance with
real business results after third-quarter results are released on
Nov. 23.
Meanwhile, he said, there seemed to be “no knock-on effects”
from the stock tumble on the operations side in the United
States.
He added that MyTravel was not looking to sell its U.S.
division.
