First information on the full 2002 financial year 2002 financial year marked by difficult economic environment / Energy business sold / Net debt further reduced / Dividend proposal unchanged at 77 Cents / Outlook for 2003 characterised by opportunities and risks / New Euro 111 million cost-cutting programme launched

Hanover, January 22, 2003

At today's ordinary supervisory board meeting, the TUI AG executive board gives its first review of the full 2002 financial year. The TUI Group's core business tourism was significantly affected by the knock-on effect of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, the continuing weakness of the German economy, and the further terrorist attacks on Djerba and Bali.

Sales down due to divestments
The 2002 sales figure for the Group at approximately Euro 20 billion is down as expected on the previous year's figure (Euro 22.4 billion), which is mainly due to the divestment of the building engineering division. However, adjusted for these divestments, sales decreased by only four to five percent year-on-year. Tourism sales have experienced a similar shortfall.

Profit lower than in the 2001 record year
The executive board expects for the TUI Group a profit before tax and goodwill amortisation of about Euro 600 million in the 2002 financial year despite the difficult economic environment. This means the previously announced reduction in operating profit in all divisions could not be fully offset by capital gains from divestments. In particular, the agreed sale of our interest in Ruhrgas could not be completed in 2002 due to the still pending court approval on the take-over of Ruhrgas by E.ON. Hence, the profit by divisions will be below the record profit of the previous year of just over Euro 800 million.

In line with the reduction in divisional profits, the Group profit for the year will also be less than the previous year; in addition, taxes also will increase partially due to one-off effects.

However, the dividend payment will remain unchanged. At the annual accounts meeting in May, the executive board will recommend to the supervisory board an unchanged dividend of 77 Cents per share.

Net debt reduced, energy business sold
Net debt at the end of 2002 was around Euro 5.7 billion compared to Euro 6.2 billion the previous year. The TUI Group will make a major step forward in further reducing its debt through the already announced sale of Preussag Energie GmbH's domestic and international business for a total price of around Euro 1.3 billion - to be authorised today by the supervisory board.

Dr Michael Frenzel, TUI AG executive board chairman: "We sold the Energy division at an optimal time and the revenue is at the upper end of our expectations. Together with the sale of the Deminex participation in spring 2002 and the planned sale of our Ruhrgas shareholding, we will achieve an excellent outcome with total sales proceeds of around Euro 1.8 billion."

Development in bookings still modest, late booking trend continues
In the tourism division, sales for the ongoing winter season for the Group as a whole are at the same level as last year. In detail, the smaller source markets are enjoying high levels of growth, whilst Germany and the UK are still down slightly year-on-year. The trend to late bookings continues unchanged as in the previous seasons.

HLX launch exceeds expectations
The business of the TUI subsidiary Hapag-Lloyd Express is performing very promising. Since the launch of the bookings, around 350,000 trips have been sold – of which 94 per cent are through internet. The expansion of the route network which has been announced for April and the opening of a new hub in Hanover have been well received by the customers.

Outlook for 2003 characterised by opportunities and risks
In the ongoing 2003 financial year, the critical factors for the performance of the TUI Group, particularly in the tourism division, is the economic and political environment, especially the development of the Iraq crisis. In the light of these uncertainties, which are hard to quantify, it is currently not possible to give a reliable outlook for operating profit in 2003. However, the closing of the sale of the Energy division will create considerable capital gains.

New cost-cutting programme of Euro 111 million set up
In order to cope with the risks associated with the economic environment, we have put in place a new cost-cutting programme of Euro 111 million, including operating costs of Euro 65 million. This programme follows on from the previous year's programme which reduced costs by Euro 160 million.

The TUI Group will publish the final figures for the 2002 financial year at its annual press conference on 7 May 2003 in Hanover.


For further information please contact:
Björn Beroleit, phone +49 511 566-1310
Nicola Gehrt, phone +49 511 566-1435