UK/INTERNATIONAL. Leading travel food & beverage player SSP Group has issued a trading update for its third quarter ended 30 June, with sales climbing +5% year-on-year.
On a constant currency basis the Q3 growth figure was +4%, with like-for-like (LFL) sales also up +4%.
A statement said, “This performance reflected sustained quarter-on-quarter trading momentum in three of our four regions but a significant contraction in passenger numbers in our APAC & EEME region due to the conflict in the Middle East, in line with trends initially described at our Interim Results in May.”
In APAC & EEME, LFL sales fell by -2% year-on-year and slowed by -10% quarter-on quarter due to the effects of the Middle East conflict which have led to lower passenger numbers in the Gulf and in key travel hubs across the region. For Q3 as a whole, the Gulf markets traded at around 65% of previous year levels.
Lower-than-planned LFL sales growth in the surrounding Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Pacific regions of +3% and +2% respectively reflected lower local traffic as well as lower connecting volumes across the network.
In North America, against a backdrop of weaker passenger numbers towards the end of the third quarter, sales grew by +4% on a constant currency basis, with LFL sales growth of +2%. Net gains of +2% largely reflected an increase in the number of restaurants across SSP’s airport footprint in the region.
In Continental Europe, sales remained stable overall which included like-for-like sales growth of +2%. SSP said it continues to focus on driving profitability in the region through its operating improvement plan. It added that good progress is being made in implementing the actions identified by its European Rail review.
In the UK & Ireland, sales rose by +8% YoY with LFL sales growth of +11% supported by “positive seasonal trading, a strengthened customer proposition and robust operational delivery”. Performance also included a modest benefit from lapping last year’s M&S cyber incident, when the retailer (an SSP partner) was hit by an online attack that also affected supplies to stores.
For the nine-month period ended 30 June 2026, group sales rose +5% on a constant currency basis including LFL sales of +5%. 
