Profits Increase for Travel Firm TUI

Europe's biggest travel company, TUI, bucked an industry-wide slump and increased its profits in the third quarter of 2002. The firm reported a pre-tax income of 509 million euros, a five percent increase over last year, according to a report released Thursday. TUI's turnover declined by more than seven percent to 6.8 billion euros. Over the first nine months of the year the firm had a surplus of 159 million euros, nearly 50 percent below the previous year's value. Although TUI is only expecting single-figure growth in 2003, it is faring better than its main competition, the British MyTravel, which reported high pre-tax losses on Thursday.