Dufry turnover up by nearly 15%

Bill Lumley

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The retailer records rise in organic growth of 9.3% compared with the previous year

In the first nine months of 2008, Dufry Group’s turnover rose by 14.6%, while EBITDA before other operational results grew by 27.7% before the effects of currency translation. EBITDA margins improved by 1.1 percentage points to 13.7%, from 12.6% in the previous corresponding period. Turnover grew by 3.8% to SFr1.47bn ($1.21bn) compared with SFr1.42bn ($1.17bn) in the same period in 2007.

South America, Eurasia and Africa performed well and continued to achieve double-digit growth rates. As expected, Europe and North America and Caribbean experienced some softening. In Europe, the Alitalia situation has continued to affect Dufry’s operations at Milan airports. In North America and Caribbean the situation remained unchanged from the second quarter.

Figures for North America and Caribbean and South America, and to a lesser extent, Eurasia, were negatively affected when translated into Swiss francs owing to the strengthening of the Swiss franc, especially in relation to the US dollar. On constant foreign exchange rates, South American turnover grew by 28% while turnover of North America and Caribbean remained flat.

Gross profit margin as a percentage of turnover continued to increase to 54.2% in the first nine months of 2008, 1.3 percentage points higher than the 52.9% recorded in the same period last year, as a result of continual improvements to operational performance.

Dufry Group CEO Julián Díaz said: “Dufry has performed well to date, which is illustrated by the organic growth of 9.3% and the further margin improvement. Thanks to the broad geographical diversification of Dufry, we are well positioned even in these turbulent times. The turmoil in the financial markets and the worsening economic conditions have affected passenger traffic growth in recent months and it is likely that this situation may persist for some time. Having said this, and based on historic data, we believe that the travel-retail industry is resilient to economic downturns. This is also highlighted by the latest traffic forecasts, which continue to expect overall growth in passenger traffic in the coming years, even in the current environment.”