Thomas Cook share price down, loses £400 million in value as CEO leaves

Thomas Cook Group Plcs shares plummeted by more than a quarter after the sudden departure of CEO Harriet Green, credited for reviving the British holiday company.

Ms. Green, 52, joined the 173-year-old travel company back in 2012, when shares of Thomas Cook were trading for 14 pence and it had a market capitalization of £148 million. Under Ms. Greens leadership the company reached market value of more than £2 billion, or 140 pence a share. However, after the announcement of her resignation, effective immediately, Thomas Cook lost around £400 million in value.

The surprising news came as Thomas Cook warned that the company will grow at a “a more moderate pace” for the full year ending September 2015, but said overall the outlook was still positive.

Peter Fankhauser, appointed as COO a year ago, will replace Ms. Green as CEO. Mr. Fankhauser has been with the company for 13 years and led the renovation of Thomas Cooks UK operations.

“I always said that I would move on to another company with fresh challenges once my work was complete” Ms. Green said. “That time is now.”

Ms. Green resigned after two years since the worlds oldest travel company launched its transformation plan.

Frank Meysman, chairman at the company, said on a conference call with journalists that the replacement of Ms. Green will switch the focus of the company from restructuring to strategy realization. Mr. Maysman also described the new CEO as “travel experience expert.”

“The strategy is there and it will not change, it is now a matter of executing that strategy” he said. “Knowledge of the market is more important”.

Mr. Maysman said that Mr. Fankhauser has been groomed to take over since he became COO last year and from that point onward Ms. Green was not expected to stay with the company for more than 24 months.

“Its a matter of balance, everybody has their own qualities” Mr. Meysman told reporters.

The company also released its performance for the full year ended September 30, including revenue of £8.58 billion, £727 million lower compared to last year as unfavorable currency shifts and disruptions in Egypt hurt results.

Thomas Cook Group Plc gained 1.10% on Tuesday and closed at GBX 137.90 in London. On Wednesday the stock lost 20.39% to trade at GBX 109.78 at 12:57 GMT, marking a one-year decrease of 28.06%. The company is valued at £2.01 billion. According to the Financial Times, the The 13 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Thomas Cook Group Plc have a median target of GBX 200.00, with a high estimate of GBX 250.00 and a low estimate of GBX 120.00. The median estimate represents a 45.03% increase from the last close price of GBX 137.90.