FRANCE. Lagardère Travel Retail today posted a record third quarter with revenue up +5.0% on a like-for-like basis (+6.2% reported) to €1,695 million, driven by all geographic areas except North Asia and the start-up of duty-free activities at Auckland Airport, New Zealand.
As reported, Lagardère Travel Retail took over the Auckland concession on a solus basis for an eight-year term in July, having formerly run it as part of the LagardèreAWPL joint venture.
Excluding North Asia, Q3 revenue grew +7%.
The difference between reported and like-for-like revenue is attributable to the consolidation of the duty-free business at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
That is a reference to the joint venture struck between Schiphol Group (30%) and Lagardère Travel Retail (70%), which took over the duty-free stores on 1 May, leading to the launch of the Today Duty Free brand on 30 June.
For the first nine months, revenue rose +4.4% like-for-like (+5.5% reported) to €4,582 million, driven by all regions except North Asia, whose numbers included the effects of reorganisation measures in China where the company has exited multiple loss-making operations.
The difference between reported and like-for-like revenue is also attributable to the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol consolidation. Excluding North Asia, revenue grew +6% year-on-year.
The €31 million negative currency effect was mainly attributable to the depreciation of the US and Canadian Dollars and the Chinese Yuan, offset slightly by the appreciation of the Polish Zloty and the Pound Sterling.
The results were revealed today (16 October) in Lagardère SA’s (Louis Hachette Group) Q3 and nine-month results.
Lagardère SA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Arnaud Lagardère commented, “Lagardère Travel Retail posted record revenue of nearly €1.7 billion, driven by the success of new openings in Amsterdam and Auckland.”
Q3 results by region
In France, Lagardère Travel Retail’s Q3 revenue rose +3% year-on-year, driven by air passenger traffic growth, concession wins and sales drives, as well as successful network upgrades for the Travel Essentials and food & beverage businesses.
During the comparative third quarter of 2024, business had been lifted by the favourable impact of the Paris Olympic Games.
The EMEA region (excluding France) advanced +7%, with solid growth once again in the UK, Spain, Italy and Poland thanks to increased passenger traffic and network expansion.
Africa and Middle East boom
Business in Africa is expanding rapidly (up +35%), Lagardère noted, with recent openings in the Cameroon cities of Douala and Yaoundé, and Kigali, Rwanda.
The Middle East saw fast-paced development (up +32% year-on-year in Q3), particularly in the UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
As mentioned, like-for-like growth data excludes the contribution of the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol duty-free operation, which has been accounted for as a change in scope of consolidation.
In the Americas, Q3 revenue advanced +4%. In North America (up +3%), business was driven by network expansion and sales momentum for Travel Essentials and food & beverage, despite air passenger traffic remaining flat over the period.
South America posted revenue growth of +35% driven by the recovery of tourist traffic and the opening of the new Jorge Chávez International Airport terminal in Lima, Peru.
The Asia Pacific region posted a decline of -5%, hit hard by North Asia (down -50%) due to the continued streamlining of the business and store closures in Mainland China. However, business in the region has benefitted from the successful start-up in Auckland, Lagardère said.
Louis Hachette Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Christophe Thiery commented, “Thanks to its solid performances and complementary businesses, our Group is pressing ahead with its capital allocation policy, aimed at gradually deleveraging and paying regular dividends, while continuing to invest and maintaining sufficient flexibility to seize strategic growth opportunities.”✈
Key Q3 events for Lagardère Travel Retail
- 17 July: Lagardère Travel Retail reveals it has been appointed to operate the Travel Essentials concession in London Heathrow Terminal 2, marking the debut of the Relay concept at a UK airport and reinforcing the group’s leading position in the Travel Essentials segment. Four Relay stores will open their doors in 2026, further consolidating Lagardère Travel Retail’s footprint in the UK.
- 25 August: Lagardère Travel Retail announces the launch of new duty-free and food & beverage operations at two key airports in Saudi Arabia, Madinah (Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport) and Tabuk (Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Airport).
- 1 October: The company reveals it has been awarded the duty-free concession at London Luton Airport. As part of the ten-year concession, Lagardère Travel Retail will carry out a comprehensive extension of its main duty-free store at the fast-growing gateway, where it has operated since 2005.
