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The group’s travel retail performance in France (net sales +15%) was lifted by new openings such as the S4 satellite at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport |
FRANCE/INTERNATIONAL. Lagardère Group today announced robust revenues for 2012, buoyed by a strong performance from its travel retail division.
LS travel retail (part of the Lagardère Services division) posted net sales growth of +8.2% year-on-year in 2012.
There was strong growth in duty free in France (+15% for Aelia) and Central Europe (+14.8% in Poland, +16% in Romania, +22.5% in Bulgaria), as well as the UK (+10.7%) and Germany (+8.8%). Driven by the expansion of the retail portfolio, Asia Pacific sales climbed by +7.2%, including +32.5% in Asian countries specifically. North America was down slightly amid “an unfavourable economy”, the group noted.
In total, Lagardère Services net sales stood at €3,809 million in 2012, up +2.3% on a reported basis and +2.2% on a like-for-like basis.
Within the same division, Distribution was down -4.5% like-for-like, due to a substantial decrease in press-related activities.
Overall in 2012, Lagardère group sales were virtually stable on a like-for-like basis, hitting €7,370 million.
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Travel retail helped deliver a healthy sales performance for Lagardère Services |
Q4 2012
Lagardère Services had €980 million in net sales in the final quarter, up +7.9% on a reported basis and +1.7% on a like-for-like basis, with the difference reflecting the integration of airport activities in Rome and Prague and duty free in the Pacific and foreign exchange. The quarter was also marked by the disposal of the Book Distribution activity (OLF) in Switzerland.
Travel retail continued its growth pattern at +18.2% (+7% on a like-for-like basis), while Distribution was down -3.6% (-4.5% on a like-for-like basis).
The company said: “This like-for-like growth was carried by the momentum of the airport business, specifically in France (+8.6%) and Central Europe (+8.1% in Poland and +10.1% in Czech Republic, which benefited from good performance in duty free and development of food service activities). Business was up significantly in Asia (+30.5%), thanks to the development of new concepts in Singapore and new concessions gained in Malaysia.”
On the performance of Lagardère Services, the group noted: “The division’s business mix continued its strategic transformation, ongoing for several years. Travel Retail now represents 58% of the total (up five points on the fourth quarter of 2011), compared with 42% for LS distribution (Integrated Retail and Distribution).”
