New duty free complex buoys Sydney Airport retail in first half

AUSTRALIA. Sydney Airport retail revenue hit A$142.3 million (US$110 million) in the first six months of 2016, a sharp +9.5% climb year-on-year. The business contributed 21% of Sydney Airport’s revenues in the period.

“International passenger growth continues to be a key business driver
Kerrie Mather
CEO
Sydney Airport

Sydney Airport said the near completion of the duty free refurbishment through partner Gebr Heinemann had made a significant contribution to the retail performance.

Five of the six duty free stores are now fully open, noted the airport company. In addition, eight of the 13 stores in the new luxury precinct are now trading with the remainder to be open by Q1 2017. The new Marketplace dining zone will open in stages from mid-October and will feature seven new concepts.

In addition, noted Sydney Airport, seven newly refurbished units in the T2 food court have delivered a +50% uplift in revenue.

The commercial figures were buoyed by a +6.7% rise in passengers in the half, to 20.3 million, and in particular by a +9.3% surge in international traffic.

Sydney Airport Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kerrie Mather said: “International passenger growth continues to be a key business driver. Underpinning our international passenger result was significant additional capacity from new and existing carriers, improving load factors and strong demand from a diverse range of markets including Australia, China, USA, Korea and Japan.

“The domestic market also performed well this half, growing +5.3%, primarily underpinned by strong load factors across both full service and low cost carriers.”

Sydney Airport 1Of the major passenger nationalities, the Japanese posted the highest percentage growth in the half, with volumes rising by +25.7%. There were also strong contributions from the Philippines (+23.7%), South Korea (+21.1%) and China (+19.6%).

Total revenue at Sydney Airport grew by +11.3% to A$661.9 million (US$510 million) with EBITDA climbing by +9.8% year-on-year to A$536.1 million (US$413 million).

Sydney Airport 2

Sydney Airport 3

 

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