2019 challenges

WHAT WERE THE KEY HIGHLIGHTS FOR LAGARDÈRE TRAVEL RETAIL IN 2019?

We enjoyed another year of growth, driven by:

• a good performance in existing stores thanks both to strong growth in traffic and the positive effects of our commercial strategy of keeping one step ahead of travellers' new needs;
• the success of network modernisations and openings;
• our entry into four new markets.
  

We also acquired International Duty Free, a major player in Travel Retail, with a leading position in Belgium and operations in Luxembourg and Kenya.

Lastly, we renewed some of our major contracts, notably the concessions at Prague's Václav-Havel airport (Czech Republic), and won new ones, including the concessions at the airports in New Orleans (United States), Adelaide (Australia) and Bahrain, which will fuel our growth in 2020 and beyond.

WHAT ARE YOUR CHALLENGES AND PRIORITIES FOR 2020?

During the first six months of the year, our operations benefited from a rise in passenger traffic, network expansion and our September 2019 acquisition of IDF. However, the Covid-19 epidemic which first emerged in China followed by the Asia-Pacific region at the end of January, has now become a pandemic, affecting most countries across the globe, and in particular our operations in Europe andNorth America. Much of our Travel Retail sales network in both airports and railway stations is currently either closed or severely disrupted. Operations in continental China are gradually resuming.
All of our teams are working to manage this major crisis, with action plans put in place to maximise revenue and to protect earnings and cash flow generation.

Once the crisis is under control, we will also work to prepare and ensure that our operations resume as quickly as possible, and we will continue our growth and innovation drive as well as all of our sustainability initiatives.