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Ft-alphaville<>Something for the weekend] Life’s a beach (or not)

Posted by Neil Collins on Dec 17 07:21.

Life’s a beach (or not)

Ah, the holiday season. Dreams of surf, sea, sand – and soggy share prices, or so it must seem to the bewildered shareholders in Thomas Cook. The travel agent’s “amendment to bank facilities” on 21 October lasted just 38 days before the business fell into the arms of its 17 banks, who put up £200m in emergency funding to tide it over until the summer.

This week we learned the full horrors of why the money was so desperately needed. Exceptional charges totalled £573m. The balance sheet is shot. The Cooks were keen to emphasise that £428m was non-cash writedowns, but that’s just another way of admitting that past acquisitions and investments were a waste of money.

Cont http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2011/12/17/804421/lifes-a-beach-or-not/