Turkey coup and disruption force Thomas Cook profit outlook cut

* Thomas Cook (Xetra: A0MR3W - news) cuts full-year profit target

* Q3 underlying operating profit fell 93 pct to 2 mln pounds

* Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) up 5.9 pct at 0945 GMT, after initial 1.7 pct fall

* CEO pledges to pay dividend (Adds CEO quotes, dividend detail)

By Kate Holton

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - British travel company Thomas Cook lowered its full-year profit forecast on Thursday as attacks in Europe and the failed coup in the popular destination of Turkey made people change their holiday plans.

Europe's travel industry has been hit in recent months as holiday groups and airlines struggled to respond to attacks in France, Belgium and Germany, prolonged security issues in Turkey and uncertainty caused by Britain's vote to leave the EU.

Thomas Cook, the world's oldest travel firm, said its underlying operating profit had fallen 93 percent in the third quarter, as it worked to move its holiday packages from the eastern to the western Mediterranean.

Its shares, which have more than halved in the last 12 months, initially opened down but jumped 7 percent when Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser pledged to pay the dividend. Thomson Reuters Eikon SmartEstimate, based on analyst estimates, forecasts a dividend payment of 1.1 pence per share for 2016.

"We are operating in a challenging geopolitical environment, with repeated disruption in some of our key source and destination markets," he said.

"In addition, while Brexit has had no noticeable impact on our bookings so far, it has added to a general sense of uncertainty - for our business and our customers alike."

Thomas Cook launched a turnaround plan in 2012 after two years when the euro zone debt crisis and political turmoil in Egypt and Tunisia left it struggling with its debt.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) has since shifted airline seats from Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt to the Canaries, Balearics and mainland Spain.

While the efforts have put Thomas Cook on a stronger footing, the firm has struggled with the repeated security problems across the region, especially in Turkey, its fourth most important market.

On Thursday it said it expected to report operating profit for its full-year of 300 million pounds ($395 million), compared with a forecast in May of between 310 million and 335 million pounds.

"We view this as better than feared although with 80 percent of the programme sold risks remain on the downside," analysts at Shore Capital said.

Operating profit in the third quarter fell 93 percent to 2 million pounds, from 30 million pounds a year ago, while summer bookings were down 5 percent compared to last year.

Adding to the uncertainty, Britain's vote to leave the EU means the pound is down 12 percent against the dollar and 8.5 percent lower against the euro, making overseas holidays more expensive for Britons.

Fankhauser said Thomas Cook customers should not see any immediate rise in costs because the group had hedged against currency moves until next summer.

($1 = 0.7586 pounds) (Editing by Costas Pitas and Alexander Smith)