Lagardère opened new stores in Lima’s Jorge Chávez Airport this summer.
Lagardère Travel Retail
The duty-free division of French publishing-to-retail group Lagardère SA, posted record revenue for the third quarter, but a closer look by geography indicates just how variable—even volatile—the global travel retail channel continues to be at the moment.
Lagardère Travel Retail saw revenue in the three months to September increase by 5.0% (like-for-like), and 6.2% on a reported basis to reach €1.7 billion ($1.98 billion). The rise was better than the nine-month growth of 4.4% to €4.6 billion.
While the increased momentum was welcomed—Lagardère SA, CEO, Arnaud Lagardère described Lagardère Travel Retail Q3 as a “record driven by the success of new openings in Amsterdam and Auckland”—there were some stark variations in regional performances.
For example, the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region (excluding France) advanced by 7% overall, but Africa expanded rapidly, up 35%, thanks to recent openings in Douala and Yaoundé, both in Cameroon; and Kigali in Rwanda.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, revenue surged by 32%. The pace there was led by retail development in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia where last year’s dining expansion—with the opening of the first Éclair de Génie airport unit in Dubai International, plus several stores including a food court at Riyadh and Medina airports—boosted the region’s coffers.
In the much bigger European market, solid growth was reported in the United Kingdom. There, the retailer has just retained its London Luton Airport business for another 10 years after a competitive tender at the UK’s fifth busiest airport (serving 17 million passengers in 2024).
Concession hauls and traffic stalls
Spain, Italy, and Poland also performed well thanks to a healthy increase in passenger traffic and network expansion. A key opening was at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in May this year following Lagardère Travel Retail’s major concession win at the Dutch hub, one of the busiest in Europe with 66.8 million passengers in 2024. The Schiphol business is being operated through a 70:30 joint venture with the landlord, Royal Schiphol Group.
In the Americas, too, flux was notable. In North America, the business grew by just 3%, not helped by flat air passenger traffic, whereas South America saw revenue jump by 35% due to a recovery in tourist traffic and the opening of a new terminal at Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport in Peru, where Lagardère has a strong retail presence.
The biggest differences were seen in the Asia-Pacific region, the only one that did not grow. Here, even though Lagardère Travel Retail had a successful start-up of duty-free activities at Auckland airport from July 2025, there was a decline of 5%. This was driven by a collapse in North Asia, with revenue down by 50%. The retailer has been streamlining its business there by renegotiating contracts and/or closing doors in mainland China, where both brands and retailers have had to redefine their strategies due to what look like potentially long-lasting changes in consumer demand.
While new openings have accounted for some of the large regional variations in growth noted above, flat air traffic in North America, which could continue, has hit spending. And ingrained economic caution in China has led to Lagardère taking drastic action, which has impacted sales. When rival travel retailer Avolta releases its third-quarter results on October 30, it will be interesting to see whether these issues play out similarly within its portfolio.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinrozario/2025/10/20/sharp-regional-swings-for-lagardre-in-q3-a-sign-of-the-times/
