Upbeat TUI's shares still take a tumble

TUI Travel shares tumbled more than 8% today despite a relatively upbeat trading statement.

The company behind the Thomson and First Choice holiday brands says there was strong late demand for summer breaks as Britons sought to escape the country.

Trouble in the Middle East and North Africa this year has hit sales, but the company says its business model is flexible enough to cope with such disruptions.

TUI said today it is on track to meet City expectations for this year - analysts are predicting a profit of £478 million.

Chief executive Peter Long said: "Trading is satisfactory overall but we are anticipating a slow recovery in trading to Egypt and Tunisia and have managed our capacity accordingly."

The company's stock today fell 13.3p to 141.6p, leaving it valued at £1.6 billion.