Dufry renews contract at Milan

Tina Milton

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The company has extended its existing contract with airport authority SEA Aeroporti di Milano from 2020 until at least 2041

Dufry Group has strengthened its partnership with airport authority SEA Aeroporti di Milano by extending its contract from 2020 until at least 2041. The deal will provide the company with long-term development potential at the hub airport Milan Malpensa as well as at Milan Linate.

The company also confirmed it is working on a “pipeline of projects” and is looking for potential acquisition targets that will grow future profits.

The news comes as the group revealed its results for the first nine months of 2007. Total turnover was up by 39% to SFr1,420m ($1,267m) compared with the same period last year. EBITDA before other operational results increased by 63% to SFr179m ($159m).

Turnover continued to rise in all regions with double-digit increases. Africa’s turnover growth of 24% was supported by a double-digit performance in most operations. In Eurasia and Asia turnover was up 20%,  in line with the trends seen in the first half of 2007 and in Europe levels were up by 10%. In North America and the Caribbean turnover increased by 50%, of which 34% was attributable to acquisitions. South America grew by 78%, of which 41% is due to “acquisition effects”. The remaining increase of 37% is mainly organic growth and is based on operational improvements since the acquisitions by Dufry as well as improving market conditions.

Gross profit margin (as a percentage of turnover) increased to 52.9% from 51.7% in the corresponding period of 2006. The improvement has contributed to better conditions with suppliers and changes in the regional sales mix as well as product category mix.

Dufry Group CEO Julian Diaz commented: “We are very happy with these results and with the renewal [of the contract] at Milan Airports. The figures as well as the renewal demonstrate that we have created value through continued operational improvements. We are fully on track with our growth strategy, and have delivered on it for the fourth year in a row. Furthermore, for the second consecutive year, we generated as much sales and EBITDA in the first nine months as in the previous 12 months and we believe that the fundamentals of our business model will allow us to continue with our strategy of profitable growth.”