ADDF first half sales up 29.1%

posted on 02/08/2012: 547 views

Abu Dhabi Duty Free (ADDF) announced yesterday sales revenues of Dh380.2 million in the first half of 2012, a 29.1 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

ADDF said that the driver behind this growth has been its second quarter performance and the recently increase in passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi international Airport which had registered 22.8 per cent in the first half of the year.

"Abu Dhabi Duty Free is launching exclusive products, specifically within perfume and cosmetics, and these are really paying dividends in revenue growth and customer satisfaction,” said Mohammad Al Bulooki, Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) Chief Commercial Officer. "The spending per passenger has grown by 8.3 per cent in the first six months of 2012 compared to 2011 and remains one of the highest in the region. It is very satisfying that ADDF has maintained its growth above passenger growth, which is a credit to ADAC's retail partners,” he added.

ADDF's year-end forecast is for sales over Dh770 Million (US$210 million) which would mean a record-breaking year in the 30-year history of Abu Dhabi Duty Free.

The 29.1 per cent revenue growth has been across several businesses: from gold, managed by Pure Gold; Cigars, managed by Bin Mahmoud; and Relay, to the luxury category with Burberry, Hermes and Bvlgari all performing strongly. There's also been ongoing growth in the traditional categories, namely food and confectionery, perfume and cosmetics.

"You can correlate the rise in duty free sales directly to the growth at Abu Dhabi Airport and again by extension of Etihad Airways' rapid and continued growth,” said Saj Ahmad, Chief Analyst at StrategicAero Research, a private aviation consulting firm operating in Europe and the Middle East.

"With more codeshare flights arriving in from Air Berlin, there will be a continued upward trend in duty free sales and that will expand even further as Etihad brings on board more of its partners to connect via its hub,” he said. – Gulf News

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