Milan, 31 July 2012 - Meeting today, the board of directors of Autogrill S.p.A. (Milan: AGL IM) approved the consolidated results to 30 June 2012.
The Group’s performance in the 1st half was influenced by various factors. Travel Retail continued to see sustained growth, with revenues up 7.7% driven by a higher average receipt value and outperforming traffic levels, above all in the UK, Latin America and the Middle East. Travel Retail Ebitda grew by 14.3%, a higher rate than the increase in revenues in the sector.
Food & Beverage revenues in North America continued the positive trend seen in the 1st quarter, in both the airport (up 0.9%) and motorway (up 11.9%) channels. The airport business result was achieved despite the temporary suspension of business in over 150 points of sale for renovation work following contract renewals in the last two years. Along with persisting inflation of costs, such closures had a negative impact on Ebitda in the period.
Sales on American motorways outperformed growth in traffic as a result of better weather than in 2011 and the reduction in fuel prices in the 2nd quarter. On Italian motorways, however, which account for nearly 80% of the business, the economic crisis and restrictive measures by government and record oil prices caused a significant contraction in mobility compounded by a further reduction in propensity to spend.
The impact of the crisis on business in other European countries was limited by greater diversification across channels other than motorways.
There was strong growth in cash generation, from €26.6m to €49.8m despite the doubling of investments.
"Being an international Group enables us to continue growing: excellent results by Travel Retail and solid performance in North America are offsetting the negative situation in Europe, mainly in Italy,” said Autogrill CEO Gianmario Tondato Da Ruos. “In Europe, structural changes must now be made to recover satisfactory levels of productivity."