Thomas Cook’s chairman buys £80,000 of shares

Thomas Cook’s chairman has snapped up more than £80,000 of shares in the holiday firm after the stock crashed amid concerns over the company’s future.

According to a regulatory disclosure, Frank Meysman bought 373,000 shares at 0.21p each, amounting to £80,441.

The travel giant’s shares have tumbled since a profit warning last week – its third this year – and after it also revealed that it swung to a pre-tax loss of £163 million compared with a £9 million profit the previous year.

The company put this down to charges related to flight disruptions, writedowns on money owed by some hotels, and transformation costs.

It was also hit by delayed demand for its tour holidays due to the heatwave.

But Mr Meysman was not the only board member to buy shares on the cheap, with non-executive director Lesley Knox also buying 208,778 shares at a price of 0.22p each, totalling £47,163.

Thomas Cook’s shares recovered slightly on Wednesday following the share-buying and positive analyst comments.

Brokerage firm Jefferies said Thomas Cook can avoid raising funds to shore up its finances because of its existing financing deals, potential earnings and the prospect of selling a stake in its airline.

The company’s shares were trading at 28.5p on Wednesday afternoon, having been worth 48p just over a week ago.

Thomas Cook’s market cap now stands at about £330 million, putting it on course to be relegated from the FTSE 250 index.