Trbusiness. The travel retail Trbusiness. The magazine for global retail and duty free professionals.London Gatwick reports +10% retail revenue rise in first half
By Andrew Pentol |
London Gatwick Airport reported retail a +10% retail revenue rise to £107.9m ($137.7m) in the six months ending September 2018.
London Gatwick Airport has reported retail revenue of £107.9m ($137.7m) in the six months ending September 2018, an increase of +10% on the previous corresponding period in 2017.
Net retail income increased +9.4% period-on-period to £106.1m, while income per passenger rose +9% to £4.00. The half-year was the busiest in the airport’s history with passenger numbers reaching 26.5m, an increase of 100,000 (+0.5%).
New routes, increased route frequencies and retail development sparked an EBITDA increase of +5.9%.
DUTY & TAX FREE GROWTH
Duty and tax free income grew +12.7% year-on-year with income per passenger rising +12%. The North Terminal walkthrough continued to drive increased World Duty Free (WDF) sales in H1 2018, with the opening of this store annualising in September 2018.
The new WDF-operated ‘Collections’ shop and new contract terms also drove income growth.
Total revenue was up +5.4% to £512.5. Combined with careful cost management, this resulted in EBITDA rising +5.9% to £325m and profit after tax of £139.1m.
Specialist shops income grew +4.6% which exceeded passenger growth and increased income per passenger by 4.0%. The final phase of the North Terminal redevelopment delivered new units for Dixons, JD Sports and WHSmiths.
A number of new or refurbished stores opened across the airport as space is optimised to meet passenger demand through. These include Accessorise and Rolling Luggage in the North Terminal and the new WHSmiths bookshop and confectionery, tobacco and news in the South Terminal.
The WHSmiths Atrium in the South Terminal and various pop-up units in the South Terminal opened last year, but still impacted average spend per passenger in the first half.
Gatwick Airport, Chief Executive Officer, Stewart Wingate said: “The last six months have seen Gatwick continue to break new ground, while today the airport is serving 46m annual passengers.
Total revenue at London Gatwick Airport for the six months ending September 2018 reached £512.5m, an increase of 5.4% on the previous corresponding period in 2017 (see first graphic), while net income per passenger increased by 9% to £4.00 (see second graphic).
GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY
“Gatwick’s ever-growing global connectivity is set to further increase with China Eastern starting a new service to Shanghai in December and Norwegian to Rio in early 2019. Growth has been more moderate than in prior years as airlines are currently in the process of gearing up aircraft to be available to serve the capacity created by former Monarch slots.
We are expecting to see stronger growth once these slots are fully utilised.”
He added: “In response to passenger demand for Gatwick’s global connectivity, we have published the airport’s draft master plan, setting out our vision for growth to the 2030s. We are now seeking feedback from the public, including our local neighbours and our airport partners on this draft master plan, as we seek to fulfil our role for the country, in the most sustainable way.”
Duty and tax free income grew +12.7% in the first half of the year at London Gatwick Airport.
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