-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Why they renamed the company is abit of mystery to me. Airtours was a very recognised established brand. My Travel? To me it's just weak. Doesn't say anything. Perhaps the root of their problems? David On Wednesday 23 Oct 2002 4:36 am, Brian Rynott wrote: > Travel firm in $77M crisis > By CARA BUCKLEY > cbuckley@herald.com > > Britain's largest tour operator, MyTravel, whose U.S. subsidiary is based > in Delray Beach, has issued warnings of a possible $77 million black hole > in profits due to accounting errors and a slow summer season. > > MyTravel, formerly Airtours PLC, announced last week estimated accounting > revisions of $58.6 million, with another $18.5 million hit attributed to > overestimated September sales. The Manchester-based company was reportedly > in talks with private-equity firms 3i Group PLC, Permira and CVC Capital > Partners about a $1.16 billion takeover bid. > > MyTravel's irregularities were attributed to ''aggressive'' accounting > methods uncovered by Deloitte & Touche, which took over the account from > former rival Arthur Andersen, the fallen auditors of Enron, earlier this > year. > > The news, the company's second profit warning in less than three weeks, > sent MyTravel shares plummeting some 80 percent on the London Stock > Exchange to a low of 20 cents. > > Airtours PLC bought the cruise retailer Travel Services International of > Delray Beach in 2000 for $384.7 million to expand its U.S. presence. The > company was renamed MyTravel USA, and offers package vacations, airline > tickets and hotel bookings. Its website, MyTravel.com, says the company is > the largest cruise sales distribution company in the world, selling nearly > 10 percent of cruise vacations. MyTravel has 420 franchises with brands > including Algonquin Voyages Travel, Sunquest and the Wholesale Travel > Group. One of its arms, CruisesOnly, has call centers in Aventura and North > Miami Beach. > > MyTravel's U.S. spokeswoman was unavailable for comment Monday. > > The MyTravel Group is Europe's third-largest travel operator with 15 > million customers, resort properties, cruise ships and an airline. Carnival > Cruises bought a 25 percent stake in MyTravel in 1996 but sold its shares, > worth roughly $517 million, in June 2001. > > MyTravel has issued three profits warnings since May. In late September, > Deloitte & Touch forced the company to restate $23 million in profits, a > glitch MyTravel blamed on the way it booked travel insurance sales. The > announcement resulted in the ousting last week of former Chief Executive > Tim Byrne, who reportedly received a $1.3 million golden handshake that > MyTravel's nonexecutive board is fighting. > > The company has dismissed speculation about bankruptcy, but venture > capitalists were reportedly circling. The crisis prompted MyTravel Group's > executive chairman, David Crossland, to cancel his address to the > Association of British Travel Agents in Cairo on Sunday. > > On Monday, the Financial Times reported that the company was considering > restating accounts for previous years. > > This report was supplemented with Herald wire services. > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Unlimited Internet access for only $21.95/month. Try MSN! > http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE9ucipKsvwCXwmAPgRAslpAKCJX3Ivhfy/UBGWgl+HHbXdyEtHRACeJTzr v+K9ij/CBKq9d8xDuP1axdE= =PnFA -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----