INDIA. Shoppers Stop has announced its exit from the duty free airport retail business by handing over its 40% shareholding in the Nuance Group (India) joint venture to Dufry.
The company, a department store retailer in India, operated one duty free store at Bengaluru International Airport in a 50:50 joint venture with Nuance Group AG, Switzerland, which is now owned by Dufry Group. In April this year, Shoppers Stop reduced its shareholding in the joint venture company Nuance Group India from 50% to 40%.
The company continues to operate its Shoppers Stop department-style stores and luxury beauty boutiques within the airport channel, having opened a Shoppers Stop store and a M.A.C store in Terminal One at Indira Gandhi International Airport earlier this year.
According to a filing from Company Secretary Bharat Sanghavi to the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., Shoppers Stop has released its shares to Nuance Group AG for Rs. 6 Crore ($918,000). Dufry finalised the acquisition of Nuance Group in 2014, with some businesses retaining the Nuance name.
The company reported a retail turnover of Rs.941.1 crore ($14.4 million) for the quarter ended 30 June 30 2017 – a +22% increase compared to Rs.772.2 crore ($11.01 million) in the corresponding period last year. EBIDTA for the quarter stood at Rs. 35.4 crores.
In 2016, sales growth on a like-for-like basis for the duty free store in particular was 19%, mainly resulting from growth in passengers and increase in its range in the Perfumery, Fashion & Food category. However, the business incurred loss after tax of Rs.683 lakhs ($10,470) against the previous year’s profit of Rs.687 lakhs ($10,532).
As at 30 June this year the company operated the following stores:
Speciality Retailing:
· M.A.C (Cosmetics) – The retail agreement with Estee Lauder to open M.A.C stores. Currently has 40 stores with a presence in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Amritsar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Noida, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Surat and Kolkata.
· Clinique (Cosmetics) – Currently has 26 stores (including 15 standalone) in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Surat, Kolkata, Noida and Pune.
· Estee Lauder – Currently has 8 stores (including 2 shop-in-shops), one each in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Gurgaon.
· Bobbi Brown – Currently has 8 stores in Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai, Noida, Mumbai and Pune.
· Crossword (Book stores) – Currently has 86 stores.
Fashion & Home Retailing:
· Shoppers Stop – Currently has 80 stores (including six airport stores) in 38 cities
· HomeStop – Currently has 16 stores in 11 cities
Other Initiatives:
· Airport Retailing –one duty free store run by the JV Company, at international airport, Bengaluru.
· TimeZone Entertainment – Currently has 25 doors.
