Paris airports operator A?roports de Paris (ADP) has reported first half revenues up 5.9% to E.1.2bn ($1.8bn) and while passenger traffic was down by 6.4%, ADP saw good revenue growth in retail and services of

1.4% to E.430.9m ($614.6m), while revenues from the joint ventures of Soci?t? de Distribution A?roportuaire (ADP/Aelia) and Duty Free Paris (ADP/Nuance) rose by 2.6% to E.89.4m ($127.5m).

Revenues from shops in restricted areas rose by 3.9%, buoyed by the ongoing increase in sales per passenger, up 9.8% to E.12.30 ($17.53) and ADP says was due to the positive impact of new retail areas and a positive traffic mix.

ADP's fees from shops, F&B, advertising, banking and foreign exchange activities and car rental rose by 1.3% to E.120.8m ($172.2m) and despite the decline in traffic, revenue from the joint ventures of Soci?t? de Distribution A?roportuaire (SDA) and Duty Free Paris rose by 2.6% to E.89.4m ($127.4m) with the dominant contribution coming from SDA.

ADP Chairman and Ceo Pierre Graf said: ‘With the improvement in our second-quarter revenue compared to the first quarter, we are confident in our ability to generate mild revenue growth in 2009, in line with our outlook.’

‘In a difficult economic environment, A?roports de Paris reports a satisfactory first-half 2009 performance with revenues up 5.9%. This performance confirms the strength of our business model despite declining traffic. The main drivers of robust revenue growth were the expansion of our retail services, the opening of new facilities, buoyant momentum in real estate and the rapid development of diversification activities.’

Looking at the highlights over the first half, ADP pointed to last February's start up of the 50-50 joint venture of Duty Free Paris between it and Nuance, which specializes in fashion and accessories retailing at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports.

It says that this joint venture now operates 23 shops across both airports with a total retail area of 1,600sq m. _By the end of this year, ADP says it will add a further five new DFP shops covering a total area of around 2,500sq m.

During the period ADP also created a fifth operating segment known as Retail and Services under which all retail now falls.

ADP added that its passenger traffic in the first-half 'has continued to withstand better the downturn in passenger traffic than its main European airport peers'.

It reported a traffic decline of 6.4% to 39.9m passengers, with a 6.6% decline at Paris Charles de Gaulle (27.7m) and a 6.2% decline at Paris-Orly (12.3m). Second-quarter traffic declined by 4.6%.

The company points to a better traffic mix and it added that international traffic excluding Europe (38.3% of the total) showed even more resilience than overall traffic, with a 4.9% decline.

ADP said: ‘With the exception of Africa (+1.6%), traffic declined on all major routes: North America (-6.9%), Latin America (-8.0%), Asia/Pacific (-9.3%) and the Middle East (-5.3%). European traffic – excluding France (42.1% of the total) declined 7.9%.’

Meanwhile, ADP says that Duty Free Paris – its JV with Nuance – will operate about 40 fashion and accessories shops by 2012, with a total retail area of approximately 5,000sq m – with nearly half of that area created from new retail space at CDG and Orly.

In 2008, ADP generated revenues of E.2.527m ($3.6bn), and the airports' company handled 87.1m passengers.