Marginal Q1 sales rise at airport store operator Dufry

Dufry had good turnover growth in Regions EMEA & Asia and US & Canada, as well as in Mexico and parts of the Caribbean. The specific situations in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina remained largely unchanged and the performance of these operations was similar to the past quarters.

EBITDA margin in the first three months of 2013 reached 11.6% versus 13.5% one year earlier. The contract renewal signed for São Paulo International airport was the main driver for the shift in EBITDA margin. The contract, which includes higher concession fees as from signing in November 2012, provides for increasing the retail space by 60% in the second half of 2013, and will allow to substantially develop the business in that location in the coming years.

The acquisition in Greece that Dufry completed on 22 April, 2013, will be fully consolidated from April onwards. The business will be an important contributor to turnover growth and profitability in the coming quarters and will compensate for the effects seen in the first three months of 2013.

Business diversification and new concessions to support turnover performance for rest of the year

Turnover presented a 1.7% growth, reaching CHF 736.4 million in the first quarter of 2013. Dufry had good turnover growth in EMEA & Asia, US & Canada, Mexico and parts of the Caribbean operations.

The British Caribbean and most of South America performed in line with previous quarters and continued to be below average. Dufry expects that organic turnover growth will accelerate in the second half of the year due to a normalisation in some locations and several projects that were concluded in the past quarters.

The acquisition of 51% of the travel retail business of Folli Follie Group, that Dufry successfully completed on April 22, 2013, will contribute to the growth from April onwards when the business will start to be fully consolidated. The business, which generated turnover of EUR 300.3 million and EBITDA of EUR 83.7 million in FY 2012, will be integrated into Dufry’s existing operations.

The increase of 2,600 square meters in Dufry´s retail space in the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo, Brazil is on track and is expected to be completed in the second semester. The additional retail space, which represents an increase of 60% of Dufry’s current space, will allow Dufry to alleviate current capacity constraints and to generate additional revenues.

Dufry