Milan , 08 November 2012 - Meeting today, the board of directors of Autogrill S.p.A. (Milan: AGL IM) examined and approved the consolidated results as of 30th September 2012.
The economic situation continued in the 3rd quarter to negatively affect mobility in Europe, while traffic flows in the United States were stable with respect to the same period in 2011. The contraction in motorway traffic was particularly serious in Italy (7.6% ) and also affected other European countries previously less penalized. Regarding airport traffic, on the other hand, there was 0.2% growth in airports in the United States but contraction in Spain (3% ) and the UK (0.9% ).
Despite this difficult situation, the Group closed 3rd quarter 2012 with revenues substantially stable at constant rates and up 5.5% at current rates. Ebitda was slightly down at constant rates (1.6%) and up at current rates (3.4%). Travel Retail continued to enjoy strong growth in both sales and Ebitda. Food & Beverage saw a partial recovery with respect to the previous quarters thanks to good sales performance in US airports and containment of the contraction in business in Italy.
The Group’s financial solidity enabled it to step up investments and develop business in new territories. In the period, Autogrill won contracts in Brazil and Germany (Travel Retail) and Turkey and UAE (f&b).
Good cash generation in the first nine months (€225.6m against €156.3m in the same period in 2011) strengthened the Group’s finances and enabled it to reduce its financial indebtedness to €1,427.1m.
"Results in airports continue to be good, despite the difficult macroeconomic context. I’m satisfied with the early renewal of our contract at Schiphol Airport and the growth we’re achieving in economically dynamic countries like Turkey and Brazil,” said Autogrill CEO Gianmario Tondato Da Ruos. “Traffic trends and results in Europe, however, are still particularly negative. The Group has worked hard to limit the erosion of margins through a radical revision of its processes and tight control of resources.“