Emirates’ duty-free turnover up 48%

Nicole Mezzasalma

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The airline registered a 54.1% rise in profits in the financial year ended March 31, with duty-free sales reaching $35m

The Emirates Group has reported a 54.1% rise in net profits to AED5.3bn ($1.4bn) for the financial year ended March 31. Revenue grew 32% to AED41.2bn ($11.2bn) compared with the same period the year before. The company’s net margin improved to 13.2% from 11.4% in the previous year.

According to the Emirates financial statement, inflight duty-free sales registered an increase of 48% to AED128m ($35m). The company said about 400,000 items were sold to achieve that result. In 2007, the airline also launched a joint initiative with luxury goods supplier Montblanc offering a necklace worth $1m, of which $150,000 would be donated to UNICEF if the piece was sold.