Double-digit growth for travel retail group Dufry

Swiss travel retail group Dufry reports a strong peak-season performance for the first nine months this year, with double-digit growth in Asia.

Lumping Asia with Australia and the Middle East, the company reports regional turnover of CHF574 million (US$574 million), up from CHF569.4 million in the same period last year. Organic growth in the division was 0.5 per cent, with organic growth accelerating in the third quarter to 4.4 per cent.

Despite fewer Chinese tourists, South Korea sales grew by double digits. Both Hong Kong and Macau bounced back, also achieving double-digit growth in the third quarter. Sales also grew in Bali, Cambodia and Singapore.

Overall, turnover reached CHF6.27 billion, driven by organic growth of 7.9 per cent. Gross profit margin expanded by 100 points to 59.4 per cent while EBITDA further grew by 8.5 per cent to reach CHF743.6 million.

Turnover rose by 6.7 per cent with organic growth reaching 7.9 per cent – the company’s best performance since 2011.

At the end of September, Dufry had expanded its retail space by more than 20,500sqm across 135 shops through openings and expansions, and refurbished more than 23,000sqm across 60 shops.

Furthermore, Dufry signed contracts that will add more than 18,000sqm to the portfolio before the end of next year.

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