Milan , 30 July 2010 - Meeting today the Board of Directors of Autogrill S.p.A. (Milan: AGL IM) examined and approved the consolidated results at 30 June 2010. In first half 2010 the Group reported positive economic and financial results within a macroeconomic scenario that is still weak. In the period under examination the Group recorded a positive performance in all its business segments and, in particular, Travel Retail & Duty Free.
Overall the growth in revenues was more relevant in the airports, driven by the return of business traffic and long distance flights. The recovery in sales recorded at the American airports, despite traffic which was in line with the 2009 levels, was accompanied by the solid performance of the revenues reported in the UK airports, particularly Heathrow and Gatwick and the positive signals from Spain, above all in Madrid and Barcelona. Motorway traffic, which was penalized by unfavourable weather conditions early in the year, stabilized in both of the most important markets, Italy and the United States.
The Group also further increased its generation of cash flow from operations which rose 7.5% to €207.2 million and dedicated a greater amount to development projects in order to take advantage of the initial signs of a recovery. Investments in first half 2010, in fact, rose by more than 30% to €85.7 million with respect to the same period in 2009, consistent with the development activities linked to renewals and new contracts. “In the first half we maintained our cash flow generation at consistent levels and recorded good sales growth in all our business segments, despite traffic trends which continue to be fairly volatile – said Autogrill CEO Gianmario Tondato Da Ruos – The summer is off to a good start and we expect to see a performance in line with our forecasts.”