LONDON (ShareCast) - The non-executive Chairman of Thomas Cook, the FTSE 250 travel company, has made a show of faith in the group as full-year losses widened on higher fuel costs and write-downs.

Frank Meysman, who became Chairman one year ago, bought 100,000 shares at 24.57p a time for a total of £24,570.

The company reported on Wednesday that its pre-tax loss widened to a thumping £485.3m in the year ended September 30th compared to a loss of £398.2m in 2011. Revenue fell to £9.49bn from £9.8bn previously.

The heavily indebted travel firm, which has battled against a downturn in global travel and high debt levels and endured three profit warnings last year, said it is recovering lost ground from last year's difficulties.

Meysman's purchase follows a much bigger one by Group Chief Executive Harriet Green, who bought her first round of shares in the company on Wednesday, purchasing 500,000 shares at 23p a time.

"These results reflect the major issues that Thomas Cook faced last year, but they mask the material improvement that we made in the fourth quarter," Green said on Wednesday.


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