Milan / IT. (aspa) Last week the Board of Directors of Italy´s Autogrill S.P.A. examined and approved the consolidated results at 31 March 2015. First quarter 2015 closed with sales of 893.5 million EUR, up 9.9 percent on the 813 million EUR posted for the same period the previous year (down 0.1 percent at constant rates). The result was obtained thanks to the positive trend in business in the United States and the strengthening of the US Dollar against the Euro. The period was characterized by good sales performance at airports, the Group´s main channel, with 20.7 percent growth on first quarter 2014. The positive trend in airports offset substantially stable revenues in the motorway channel, where growth in North America and the Other European countries was balanced by the contraction in Italy following redefinition of commercial operations through selective renewals in the motorway channel tender campaigns in the last two years. Growth in Ebitda was particularly strong, rising 22.5 million EUR (48.7 percent) from 15.1 million EUR in first quarter 2014. At constant rates too Ebitda grew significantly (7.4 percent) thanks to results in the United States and improved economic performance in Italy.
Results for Q1/2015
- Consolidated revenues: 893.5 million EUR versus 813 million EUR in first quarter 2014
- Consolidated Ebitda: 22.5 million EUR versus 15.1 million EUR in first quarter 2014
- Net result: minus 40.4 million EUR versus minus 37.1 million EUR in first quarter 2014
- Cash flow generation: minus 16.1 million EUR versus minus 24.2 million EUR in first quarter 2014
- Net financial position: 807.7 million EUR at 31 March 2015 against 693.3 million EUR at 31 December 2014
Events after the close of the quarter
In the first months of the year, in line with its business development strategy, the Group continued to expand in fast growing economies – especially in Asia – and strengthen its commercial operations in markets where it has a strong presence, such as North America. In April, Autogrill announced its entry to China, where in 2015 it will open ten points of sale at the international airports of Beijing and Sanya, which are expected to generate total revenues of around 50 million EUR over the period of the two contracts. In North America, the Company strengthened its position in the airport channel by winning four contracts to operate 40 points of sale at Houston Airport in the United States and Montreal Airport in Canada. According to estimates, the two operations will produce accumulated sales of around 790 million USD in the overall duration of the contracts.
Outlook for 2015
In the first 18 weeks the Group saw its sales rise 11.3 percent on the reference period (up 0.3 percent at constant rates). The Group´s forecast results for 2015 were calculated on an average EUR/USD exchange rate of 1.10, which compared to the average EUR/USD rate in 2014 (1.3285) produces a significant appreciation in the Euro conversion of results generated in US Dollars. The effects of the different EUR/USD rate on the main economic indicators of forecast performance are also indicated. The Group is expecting to see revenues in 2015 between 4’300 million EUR and 4’400 million EUR compared to 3’930 million EUR in 2014. The effect of the different exchange rate used is an increase of around 335 million EUR in sales. Forecast Ebitda (including Corporate costs) for 2015 is between 370 million EUR and 380 million EUR, with a margin over expected revenues of around 8.6 percent. In 2014 the Group posted Ebitda of 316.2 million EUR (with an Ebitda margin of eight percent). The effect of the different exchange rate used is an increase of around 37 million EUR in Ebitda. Lastly, the Group expects its net capital expenditure to be around 240 million EUR against 196.4 million EUR in 2014. The effect of the different exchange rate used is an increase of around 14 million EUR in investments.
