TOP 10 OPERATORS 2018 1: DUFRY


1 T


Global leader posts growth of +7% in 2017 to $8.5bn


In the last 18 months, Dufry continued to consolidate business in its strongholds, but also managed to extend its reach in Asia; a key strategic focus for the world No.1 duty free & travel retailer. TRBusiness presents this comprehensive analysis of the company’s movements in 2017 and 2018.


he undisputed global leader in duty free and travel retail, Dufry grew its revenue by


+7% to CHF8,377.4m (US$8.55bn) in calendar year 2017, as synergies from its World Duty Free acquisition bore ‘significant results’. The company’s ‘organic activity’


increased by 7.4% as EBITDA broke the CHF1bn mark (CHF1,007.1m) in a year denoted by new contract gains and extensions and an increase in its gross retail concession space to 30,000sq m. Dufry confirmed that North and


Latin America accounted for the largest share of that space, followed by Asia, Middle East, Australia, Southern Europe and Africa, with deals inked in 2018 and 2019 to increase that footprint by a further 15,500sq m. As mentioned, the synergies from


the World Duty Free acquisition were significant and totalled CHF125m, ‘considerably exceeding the original estimates of CHF105m’, said Dufry. In addition gross profit shot up by


8.6% to reach CHF4,978.6m, free cash flow totalled CHF467m and


OCTOBER 2018


would have hit CHF571m if not for the ‘extraordinary cash outs that Dufry had in the beginning of the year’. Julián Díaz, CEO of Dufry Group,


praised the results and the year’s positive market momentum as carrying over into early 2018 across all divisions, with similar organic growth levels providing a solid foundation to begin the new reporting year. He also attributed progress in


2017 to three key areas: increased cash generation, reduced debt and accelerating organic growth levels, as mentioned. “We have also achieved our goal


to fully reflect the CHF125m of WDF synergies, 20% higher than originally announced,” he stated.


Important group changes “Early in 2018, we had two important changes in the Group. First, in January we announced the new simplified Group organisation with a smaller Global Executive Committee, which will further improve the speed of decision making and thus allowing us to be closer to the market. “Secondly, on 1 February, we


successfully listed a 42.6% stake our North American division as Hudson Ltd at the New York Stock Exchange. Besides further expanding our duty paid convenience business, the listing aims at evolving the business by expanding into additional opportunity streams such as food and beverage operations and master concessions.” Not soon after releasing the annual


results, Dufry was in the news again for securing a milestone contract in Asia. In March of this year, the


“Regionally it is very important we expand the business in Asia…It is still a question mark for us as we have only generated 10% of total business so far in this region when we are generating 42% of total business in the Americas and 26% in Central Europe and the UK.”


Julián Díaz, CEO, Dufry Group


TOP 10 OPERATORS 9


Above: Dufry’s ‘New Generation’ store in Cancun.


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