The Swiss operator of duty-free shops Dufry on Tuesday reported a gradual recovery in its sales in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean with the advance of vaccination, Asia remaining on the other hand very affected by the decline in international travel.
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The group, strongly shaken by the travel freeze during the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020, reduced its net loss in the first half, to 499.2 million Swiss francs (462.2 million euros) thanks to the measures savings put in place to absorb the shock, especially on staff costs and rents, he said in a statement.
During the same period last year, the Swiss group, at the head of a network of 2,300 shops in airports, maritime terminals and cruise ships, suffered a loss of 903.2 million francs.
Its turnover, however, continued to unravel by 25.2% compared to the first half of last year, to nearly 1.19 billion Swiss francs, below the forecasts of analysts interviewed by the agency. Swiss AWP who expected an average of 1.26 billion francs. Excluding currency effects, its organic sales are still 69.5% below their level in the first half of 2019.
«Clear signs»Recovery
Since the end of March, however, the Swiss group has seen a resumption of sales to travelers in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean as vaccination programs progress and travel restrictions are eased.
Demand also started to recover as soon as travel was able to resume in Europe, in particular to Mediterranean countries, part of Central Europe and the Middle East. Asia Pacific, on the other hand, remains very affected by the drop in international travel.
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«We’re definitely not where we’d like to be yet“, Acknowledged the general manager of the group Julian Diaz, quoted in the press release. However, he said to himself “confident for the months to come“, Noting”clear signs»Recovery in some parts of the world.
Dufry, which has raised its cash flow targets, hopes that 70% of its stores will be back in business by the end of August. In July, its sales were approximately -43.9% below their 2019 level in the Americas, -57.9% for Europe, Middle East and Africa and -84.6% for the ‘Asia Pacific.
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