INTERNATIONAL. Travel restaurateur Autogrill Group today reported preliminary figures for the year ended 31 December 2020, with revenue reaching €1,983.7 million, down by -60.3% at current exchange rates (-59.8% at constant exchange rates).
The company said that the performance at airports – hard hit by the pandemic – remains “subdued”, though North America has shown gradual improvement since last April driven by domestic traffic recovery. The motorway business has proven resilient, said the group.
As of 31 December, 42% of group outlets remained closed. Autogrill said that rationalisation of its footprint in Europe was partially offset by new openings at airports in North America (Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas and Seattle).
The 2019 disposals of the Canadian motorway business and Czech Republic operations were partially offset by the positive contribution of the acquisition of Pacific Gateway (also in 2019) in North America and the consolidation of joint ventures in Qatar, UAE and Malaysia in 2020.
North America delivered a -67% fall in like-for-like sales performance in 2020 (-73% in December at constant exchange rates), with 49% of all stores closed at year-end.
In the International division, revenues were down by -63.9% in the year (-77% in December at constant rates), with 46% of all stores closed at year-end.
In Europe, 2020 saw a like-for-like revenue performance of -46.5% (-57% in December at constant rates). In this region, 25% of all stores were closed as of 31 December (Italy 21%; other European countries 36%).
The company said that it had gained around €5.3 billion worth of new contracts and renewals in the year, led by fresh agreements struck at Las Vegas and Amsterdam airports.
