Thomas Cook Potential Breakup Value Is Minimal, Citi Says

(Bloomberg) -- Thomas Cook Group Plc has little potential breakup value for equity holders and few obvious buyers for some assets, according to Citigroup, which reiterated a zero pence price target for the embattled tourism operator's stock.

“The valuation of the Scandinavian business could surprise on the upside, however, we see few obvious buyers for other parts of the group,” analysts led by James Ainley wrote in a note, noting that Deutsche Lufthansa AG “appears to have scaled back its interest in the airline sale.”

Citi said that its base case is that there is no equity value in the group, while the current share price implies 200 million pounds ($252 million) of equity value. The analyst notes that this “seems at odds” with the bonds, which are trading at about 40% of face value.

The stock fell 40% on May 17 after Ainley downgraded it to sell and cut its price target to zero pence from 28 pence. The move followed a warning from the company that it faces another tough summer, while a lifeline loan from its lenders depends on the sale of the airline unit. Shares rose last month after Thomas Cook received an offer for its tour-operator business from Chinese investor Fosun International, and are currently trading at 13.5 pence.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Canny in Amsterdam at wcanny3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Beth Mellor, Tom Lavell

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