Thomas Cook seasonal loss narrows, sells unit for 45 mln stg

LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - British holiday operator Thomas Cook said its seasonal loss narrowed in its financial first quarter and said it had agreed to sell a flight distribution business for 45 million pounds ($74 million) as part of its ongoing disposal programme.

The company also said that summer bookings were developing in line with its expectations. Bookings in the early months of the year for summer holidays generate the bulk of the firm's earnings.

The world's oldest travel group, whose history dates back 173-years, posted an underlying operating loss of 56 million pounds in the three months to the end of December, a 15 percent improvement on the corresponding year earlier period.

Thomas Cook (Xetra: A0MR3W - news) said in a separate statement that it would sell Gold Medal, a distributor of scheduled flights, hotels and car hire, to a unit of the Emirates Group for 45 million pounds.