Holiday operator My Travel was under a cloud today after warning an accounting change would wipe up to £15 million off profits this year.

The group, which owns Hove-based Pan-orama and Manos Holidays, said its auditors had asked the business to book certain revenues at the point of departure rather than when customers paid for a holiday.

Chief executive Tim Byrne warned while bookings for next summer were at the best level for five years, profit targets for this year would not be met.

While the shortfall would be made up next year, dividend payouts were likely to be affected by the change in accounting.

He said: "Until very recently, we anticipated the group's results would be broadly in line with expectations, albeit at the lower end. However, our auditors have asked us to change our retail revenue recognition policy."

Shares in MyTravel plunged in May after it warned it was continuing to suffer from the impact of September 11.

The group, which changed its name from Airtours in February, still had one million summer holidays to sell as customers waited for cheaper deals.

Today, MyTravel said the level of bookings was up 21 per cent in the last ten weeks of the summer but selling prices were slightly below expectations.

Mr Byrne said: "The signs for next summer are very positive, with more brochure bookings in hand now than at any time in the last five years.

"While we are very disappointed we had to make this change to expectations at this late stage of the year, we continue to believe the fundamental underlying strengths of the existing business and our future growth prospects are good."