Robust retail performance lifts AdP profits

Nicole Mezzasalma

Print Article E-Mail Article E-Mail Author

The airport company added 7,442sq m (80,105sq ft) of commercial space and retail revenue grew 9.1% in 2007

French airport operator Aéroports de Paris (AdP) has announced a rise in revenue of 10.4% to €2.29bn ($3.56bn) in 2007. The company attributed the growth to “robust” retail growth of 9.1% and to the contribution of other activities, including its commercial joint venture Société de Distribution Aéroportuaire (SDA), which registered revenue increase of 44.4%. AdP’s EBITDA was up 13.5% to €754.4m ($1.17bn).

AdP opened a total of 7,442sq m (80,105sq ft) in new retail space in 2007, bringing the total retail area in the Paris Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly airports to 42,466sq m (457,100sq ft), an increase of 21.1% compared with 2006. The company plans to add another 5,538sq m (59.610sq ft) of retail space in 2008 and has revised its retail expansion target between 2004 and 2010 from 30% to 34%, 70% of which will be allocated to duty-free stores.

SDA’s contribution to AdP’s results rose 151.6% to €10.4m ($16.2m) “thanks to strong business throughout the year, in addition to a positive consolidation effect on revenues of 46.7%”, the company said.

AdP chairman and CEO Pierre Graff said: “The group’s performance improved strongly in 2007, buoyed by strong passenger traffic growth, robust retail and real-estate revenues and the rapid expansion of our subsidiaries’ business…The group is in excellent health, confirming the pertinence of our strategy. We are confident in 2008 and have raised our 2010 EBITDA growth target to 60% [from the 2005 level], compared to our previous guidance of 45% to 50%.”