Dufry posts strong growth in first quarter 2008

Nicole Mezzasalma

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The company’s turnover before currency effects was up by 18.4% compared with the previous corresponding period

Swiss retailer Dufry Group has announced a rise of 18.4% in turnover before currency effects in the first three months of 2008 compared with the previous corresponding period. Turnover in Swiss francs was up by 7.9% to SFr449.9m ($431.2m), while EBITDA grew 20.2% to SFr50.1m ($48m).

According to the company, organic growth in the first quarter of 2008 reached 14.5% and new concessions contributed 3.9%. Dufry said in a statement that all regions performed well, with South America, Eurasia and Africa “achieving double-digit growth rates”. North America and the Caribbean were negatively affected by the strengthening of the Swiss franc against the US dollar. Despite similar currency exchange issues, the retailer’s European business grew by 9% in the period.

Dufry Group CEO Julián Díaz said: “Throughout the first quarter of 2008, Dufry has performed well and once more has delivered a strong performance despite the impact of negative accounting. Organic growth of 14.5% reflects the efforts made by Dufry to drive the operational performance on the one hand and the sound fundamentals prevailing in our business on the other. Based on the latest outlook by industry specialists, passenger growth trends seen in the first quarter of 2008 are expected to continue for the rest of the year.”