Milan , 10 November 2011 - Meeting today, the board of directors of Autogrill S.p.A. (Milan: AGL IM) examined and approved the consolidated results as of 30th September 2011.
The 3rd quarter saw continuing growth for the Group. The strong growth trend in Travel Retail that characterized the 1st half has continued: the sector closed the 3rd quarter with double-digit increases in revenues (11.4%) and Ebitda (14.4%) . Food & Beverage produced appreciable results in the quarter, with sales and Ebitda up 2.2% and 2.5% respectively, thus halting the erosion of margins seen in the previous two quarters despite the persistent economic crisis facing the sector, with contractions in consumer spending and increases in food costs.
The Group closed 3rd quarter 2011 with revenues up 5.1% and Ebitda up 5.5% , and a ratio of Ebitda to sales slightly up on 3rd quarter 2010 (from 13.9% to 14.0%).
These results were achieved despite uneven traffic patterns: airports in the US and Europe saw growth but the motorway business was static or even contracting under the influence of crisis in certain countries, falling consumer spending and fuel prices at record highs. For instance, traffic on the Italian motorways, traditionally among the most stable, was negative by 0.7% across the network as a whole.
Revenues in the nine months reached around €4,323m, up 4.5% on the same period in 2010. Ebitda (€484m) was up by a similar percentage . Group Net profit rose 11.2% .
In the 2nd quarter, Autogrill started a process of organizational restructuring within the Group, especially in Food & Beverage, incurring charges of around €6.8m, of which about €4.3m came in the third quarter.
At the end of July, two new credit facilities worth a total €1.35 billion were executed in order to refinance most of the bank debt and to extend the average maturity to four years.
“Our results on international markets were very satisfactory. What’s more, this refinancing and the strong net cash flow generation have given the Group a solid and balanced financial structure which will enable it to implement further development strategies in both its key sectors,” said Autogrill CEO Gianmario Tondato Da Ruos.