Rossinyol: “The Middle East gives uncertainty to the industry but in the last few weeks, despite what is happening, the crisis is having less of an effect than at the beginning.”

Avolta, the world’s biggest travel retailer, has doubled down on its medium-term targets of achieving organic growth of between +5% and +7% into 2027, and expanding its core EBITDA margin by 20-40bps. The confidence comes, in part, from the current Middle East crisis and other factors having an absorbable impact, and an optimistic long-term view held by CEO Xavier Rossinyol.

In an investor call on Thursday afternoon to discuss first-half company results, Rossinyol told financial analysts: “The Middle East gives uncertainty to the industry, but in the last few weeks, despite what is happening, the crisis is having less of an effect than at the beginning.”

Other headwinds were the bankruptcy of Spirit Airlines in the US, Mexico’s cartel-related security situation affecting travel, and currency swings in South America.

They were all described as temporary by Rossinyol, who added that the company still managed to achieve “a pretty resilient performance”, despite the unpredictability of these situations.

CFO of Switzerland-based Avolta, Yves Gerster, added that the group produced “a good result… thanks to our diversified platform”.

Performance by region.

Complex projects in the making

In a statement, the company said: “The group expects the impact of the Middle East conflict to be temporary and anticipates further gradual operational progress at New York’s JFK Airport and Shanghai Pudong Airport through 2026.” Both projects are capital intensive, especially the multiple wins at JFK, whereas the Pudong entry has been described as “a challenge” in terms of legal hurdles.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of DFS operations in Okinawa is expected to complete within days and offers the Swiss travel retailer a major step-up in Japan, where it previously only had food and beverage operations (F&B), thus expanding its retail portfolio in Asia-Pacific in one of the region’s biggest economies.

Avolta H1 revenue hits $8bn, down -2.7%

Avolta’s H1 P&L as reported. Note 1. All % as % of turnover except for income taxes (% of CORE EBT) and non-controlling interest (% CORE Net Profit).

Avolta delivered H1 revenue of CHF6.44bn ($8bn*), up +3.7% (organic), and +3.1% at constant exchange rates (CER). Excluding the Middle East effect, organic growth would have been +5.2%. However, at the reporting level, H1 net sales were down from CHF6.61bn in H1 2025. EBITDA, EBIT and net profit were also all down (see Core P&L chart for those figures).

Nevertheless, investors were convinced by Avolta’s confident medium-term outlook and, after a steep opening fall, the stock closed +1.3% up on Thursday. Investments related to Pudong and JFK, among others, are expected to secure long-term profitable growth, and the acquisition of DFS Okinawa in Japan is likely to be immediately earnings accretive, with three or four months of trading showing in the current financial year.

In a prepared statement, Rossinyol noted: “Our diversified global platform once again proved its resilience, with sales performing at or above prior year levels across most of the business and underlying momentum improving through the second quarter. While near-term volatility persists, we continue to deliver against our medium-term strategy and take the necessary measures to protect profitability and cash generation, while progressing the ramp-up of our new operations. We remain firmly focused on the medium and long-term.”

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