TUI Travel third-quarter profit rises 21 pct

LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - TUI Travel (LSE: TT.L - news) , Europe's biggest tour operator by revenues, reported a 21 percent rise in third-quarter profit and said it was on track to deliver profitable growth even as parts of the market become more competitive.

The British company is currently in talks with its 55 percent owner Germany-based TUI AG (Xetra: TUAG00 - news) regarding a merger deal worth around 4.4 billion pounds ($7.5 billion) which would create the world's largest leisure tourism group.

Under takeover rules, the two have until Sept. 19 to announce a formal merger proposal.

The owner of holiday brands Thomson and First Choice on Friday reported underlying operating profit on a like-for-like basis of 92 million pounds ($155 million) in the three months to June 30 compared to the 76 million pounds it made in the same period last year.

TUI Travel is targeting 7 to 10 percent growth in underlying operating profit for the 12 months to the end of September. ($1 = 0.5950 British Pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)