Autogrill results buoyed by Aldeasa and Alpha

Nicole Mezzasalma

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Growth in revenues in the first nine months of 2007 “was driven by the airport channel”, according to the Italian group

Italian group Autogrill has announced its results for the nine months to September in which consolidated revenues were up 23.8% to €3.51bn ($5.1bn). Consolidated EBIDTA rose 11.3% to €443.9m (645.4m) and net profits for the group were up by 1.9% to €142.6m ($207.3m). Growth in revenues in the first nine months of 2007 “was driven by the airport channel”, according to Autogrill. New acquisitions—including Alpha Airports Group—and organic growth increased airport sales by 28% (35.6% at constant rates) to €1.71bn ($2.48bn). In a statement the company said: “The impact of retail and duty-free on total revenues rose from 29.6% to 32% (from $1.22bn to $1.62bn) due to strong growth by Aldeasa and retail business in Italy, and also Alpha Airports, albeit for a limited period.”

Aldeasa, which is jointly owned by Autogrill and Altadis, registered a rise of 15.1% in revenues to €627.5m ($912.1m) for the nine months. According to Autogrill, this was largely due to strong sales results at Spanish airports, up 11.5%, and business in international airports, up 36.5% at Mexico, Chile and Kuwait City and in the new locations in Vancouver Airport. Meanwhile, Alpha posted revenues of £409.6m ($844.2m) from February 1 to September 30, up 5.4% compared with the same period in 2006. “In-flight business revenues grew by 4.4%, with performance substantially stable in the UK and growth of 23.6% on the international market, especially in Australia and Romania,” the statement said. Alpha’s airport retail revenues were up by about 6.5%, with the British and Irish markets up by 7.4%, and a smaller growth of 3% on international markets due to results in the US and the Maldives, which offset two contract losses in Turkey.