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Thomas Cook has said that it expects to achieve cost savings higher than previously predicted, as a result of its recent merger.

The travel company was formed following a recent merger between the former holiday company of the same name and rival MyTravel.

In the group's first interim management statement since the tie-up was completed in June, Thomas Cook said that efforts to integrate the two operations in the wake of the merger had continued to make "excellent progress".

"We are increasingly confident that the synergies achieved will exceed the €140 million (£95 million) predicted in the prospectus for the merger," said the newly formed company, which is owned by German firm Karstadt Quelle.

It is thought that as many as 2,800 jobs could be lost as a result of Thomas Cook's cost-cutting plans.

Meanwhile the company has said that it expects its full-year results to be in line with expectations, despite a pick-up in UK holiday bookings being weaker than anticipated this summer.

Thomas Cook said that while trading in the UK market had improved compared to the summer of 2006, the company had been unable to fully recover increased fuel costs by charging higher prices.

The travel group said that its customers were also having to pay an estimated €60 million (£41 million) in additional air passenger duty, which it said had acted as "a brake" on prices.

Thomas Cook added that trading conditions in its largest market, Germany, "remain challenging" - but stressed that action had been taken to try and mitigate the impact over the season.

However the company said that it expected its summer performance estimates for northern Europe to be exceeded, with cumulative bookings for the busiest holiday season already up by two per cent on the corresponding period in 2006.