ZURICH (AFX) - Kuoni Reisen Holding AG chairman Andreas Schmid said the tour operator has no more skeletons in its cupboard after writedowns on its stake in Canary Islands resorts Las Playitas pushed it into the red in 2005.
Speaking in an interview with NZZ am Sonntag, Schmid said: 'With Las Playitas we are cleaning up the last difficult investment in our portfolio.'
Last week Kuoni reported a loss of 42 mln sfr for 2005 following a 58.3 mln book loss on the sale of its US unit Intrav and two writedowns of 33.4 mln and 64.8 mln on its investment in Las Playitas.
Schmid also reiterated in the interview that the Swiss company is on the lookout for acquisitions.
He said that the company has looked at several possible targets in recent years, including large targets, but that the restructuring costs that would have been necessary were too high.
The company also aims to grow in the saturated European market, he said.
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