Travel retailer Avolta generates more revenue in the first half of the year

From January to June, the travel retailer generated sales of 6.34 billion Swiss francs, according to a press release issued on Tuesday. This is 11.0 percent more than in the previous year. However, Avolta also benefited from the fact that in the previous year the sales of the acquired highway service station specialist Autogrill were only consolidated from February onwards.

Meanwhile, organic growth amounted to 7.1 percent. The company thus more than made up for a clearly negative currency effect (-1.8%).

Higher profitability

Avolta also continued to increase its profitability. The Basel-based group benefited from synergies from the merger with Autogrill and increased its operating profit (core EBITDA) by 15.4% to 568 million. The corresponding margin rose from 8.6 percent to 9.0 percent.

At the bottom line, net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 47 percent to 182 million.

Medium-term targets confirmed

Avolta expects demand to continue to rise in the second half of the year. Market conditions remain positive and a strong performance is expected to continue in the second half of the year.

The medium-term targets have therefore been confirmed: At constant exchange rates, Avolta aims to increase sales by 5 to 7 percent annually. At the same time, the core EBITDA margin is expected to increase by 20 to 40 basis points per year.

For the full year 2024, the Group also expects organic growth and core EBITDA at the upper end of the medium-term guidance.