TOP 10 OPERATORS 1: DUFRY GROUP 1


Díaz applauds Dufry employees during 2020 ‘zero sales’ scenario


In an exclusive post-results video interview, Charlotte Turner learned from Dufry CEO Julián Díaz that he was more proud of how the company has conducted itself in recent months – to collectively bring about stability in a ‘zero sales’ scenario – than of anything else the company has achieved in the past 17 years.


D


uring a half-year 2020 results call with analysts and the media on Monday 3 August,


leading global travel retailer Dufry reported a 62% decline in turnover to CHF1,586.9 million/$1.73bn for the first half of 2020. This was the result of unprecedented levels of disruption for its retail operations across its global network of stores, triggered by the coronavirus (Covid-19). According to Dufry CEO Julián


Díaz, in July the group’s sales had risen to represent roughly 20% of the revenue accrued at the same time last year – up from just 9% in May and June. In the first few days of August, sales reached 40% of the volume registered in the same period last year. “I think what we have done in terms


of protecting the company is similar in many ways to how we dealt with previous crises,” Díaz told TRBusiness in an exclusive interview filmed for TRBusiness’ ‘Adapt & Survive’ video series launched in April.


OCTOBER 2020


Díaz became the 40th interviewee in the series in August. “With the initiatives we have


implemented, Dufry today is a stronger company, more solid from a financial point of view, which enables us to create solid foundations for our future, should the situation not improve at the speed we expect. “We have been able to create a


sustainable company in a situation where we faced zero sales, more or less… zero sales with close to 40,000 employees worldwide and more than 2,600 shops that were closed [in phases]. “It’s been a tremendous effort to


change the company in two months, but it has been possible. It’s been possible because of the quality of the management team as well as the quality and the efforts of all its employees. “I feel more proud of this than


anything we have done in the history of the company.


Díaz continued: “We have done a lot of things. We started in 2003, with around 3% of the market. We have now reached 20% of the market and in 17 years we have been able to turn around a company, that was in a very weak situation, into the largest company in travel retail. “This is happening because of the


employees and the management team. And now when the situation is probably the most challenging in the history of the company, I feel more proud of what happened in the last two months than


“During this time, I have seen partnership become more than just a word, but now an action... I think we are all looking at how the business – not just the travel retail business, but the travel industry as a whole – can survive and become more sustainable.”


Julián Díaz, CEO, Dufry


TOP 10 OPERATORS 7


Above: Julián Díaz, CEO, Dufry Group.


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