INTERNATIONAL LS travel retail has reported further details of its first-half performance, with its Asian and French businesses performing particularly well. As reported, travel retail has surged in importance for Lagardère Services, and now represents 56% of its business.
LS travel retail reported sales growth of +8% in the first half of the year, reaching €1.1 billion. As drivers of the growth the company cited the capture of new air and rail concessions, the acquisition of new businesses and the improved performance of existing operations.
Lagardère Services CEO Dag Rasmussen (pictured below) said: “Our ambitious policy of investing in stores and our ongoing efforts to recruit and train staff enable us to perform at a very high level in relation to our environment. This trend is expected to accelerate further in the coming months, thanks to our latest developments, notably in Rome as of October and in Xi’an in China.”
Europe
In France, duty free and luxury sales grew by +23%. Key factors were the acquisition of fashion outlets previously operated by The Nuance Group’s joint venture at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports; the modernisation of retail outlets across its French airports, particularly at Lyon-St Exupéry Airport; the opening of its business at Roland Garros Airport on La Réunion Island; and a good performance from its inflight business.
In Germany the company’s business grew by +10% after the opening of six new airport outlets, with a further nine outlets due to be opened at the delayed Berlin International Airport, now provisionally set to open in March 2013.
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Additional traffic generated by the UEFA European Championships drove a +19% increase in sales in Poland, with LS travel retail’s move into three outlets at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport previously operated by a competitor also assisting growth.
In the Czech Republic sales grew by an impressive +34%. LS travel retail attributed the growth to several factors, including the purchase of 16 outlets from UG-AIR and the acquisition of 24 FEE outlets.
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In Romania and Bulgaria sales rose by +20%, while in Spain strong fashion sales at Malaga and Alicante airports drove duty free and luxury sales to +10% growth. And in Switzerland the group acquired Airport Fashion on 1 March, taking over two fashion boutiques at Geneva Airport.
Asia Pacific
Pacific region sales grew by +4.5% despite the strength of the Australian Dollar and declining book sales. The company attributed the growth to the upgrade of its stores at La Tontouta Airport in New Caledonia, which generated a particularly impressive +40% increase in sales. New Zealand retail outlets taken over in the first half of 2011 also contributed positively to the result.
In Asia, LS travel retail gained 57 new sales outlets in China, Singapore and Hong Kong in the first half of the year, driving sales forward by +43%.
North America
North American turnover grew by +2% despite the loss of the Winnipeg Airport business, with new travel essentials concessions at Boston, Edmonton, and Montego Bay airports driving the growth.
