Profit on Profit: Thomas Cook and Co. in the Nordic countries have followed over time

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It is easy to get the impression that the entire Thomas Cook Group is a financially winged colossus. But in the Nordic countries, dedicated employees and strong management have created a department of Thomas Cook, who has been making profits year after year.

At home, we know them as Spies, who collaborates with Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia on flights to the south sun and heat. Both are ultimately owned by the Thomas Cook Group, which declared bankruptcy early Monday morning, but none of the companies based in the Nordic region are subject to the bankruptcy.

Last year, Spies made a profit of DKK 60 million - the second best in many years - and even if you look back 15 years, there is not one deficit to track. The story goes again at Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, flying for Spies and the other Thomas Cook tour operators in the Nordic countries.

Here the latest profit was DKK 221.3 million before tax.

Good business for the owners

The good results over time have enabled the two companies to lend considerable sums to other companies in the group. Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia and Spies had NOK 1.3 billion and NOK 443 million respectively in the latest annual accounts with other companies in the group. In addition, the airline sent DKK 270 million to the owners.

It looks different in the UK where the bankruptcy occurred on Monday morning. A hot summer in 2018, with weakening travel cravings, along with the turmoil around Britain's exit from the EU, was a pervasive theme in explaining the economic emergency landing the Thomas Cook Group had to make on the opposite side of the North Sea on Monday morning.

Although the summer heat also made a mark on sales in the Nordic countries, the Nordic subsidiaries (which also include Ving and Tjäreborg) were the only ones to deliver profits in the first half of 2019 in the Thomas Cook Group. It is achievements like these that have recently given the Nordic branches of Thomas Cook the nickname "the golden egg".

Have followed with time

Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia and Spies have managed to stay the course and deliver nice results in a turbulent air space, with low-cost airlines with names like Ryanair, EasyJet and Wizzair gaining ever greater market shares. They, along with the other Thomas Cook companies in the Nordic region, succeeded in doing this because, as time went on, business correspondent Ole Krohn was able to explain late Monday night on TV2:

"We're going to see a continuation of Spies. They have been adept at cutting costs. That is, many of the disadvantages and miseries that the main company has had have been almost a millstone around Spies's neck. Spies has adapted to new times, ”explained Ole Krohn shortly after yesterday's news that the company is on its wings again.

This is thanks in part to the fact that Spies has followed in the low-cost companies footsteps when it comes to sales via the web. Here, Thomas Cook in the UK has held on to physical stores.

And when it comes to Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, it is a company that has recently won the "Travelers Choice" award from TripAdvisor.

Spies and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia have over 1,100 employees. Everyone is employed under contractual terms.