Dubai Duty Free made almost Dh1.5 billion (US$408 million) in profits this year as the 57 million passengers passing through the emirate's international airport lifted sales to an all-time high.
The airport retailer is expected to generate just less than Dh5.9bn in revenue, on sales that included some 23,000 iPads, about two tonnes of gold and more than two million bottles of perfume.
The profit disclosure reveals that Dubai Duty Free now makes more money than global big names such as Harrods, Selfridges and Debenhams and has one of the strongest profit margins in retail.
"If you look at good airports like Heathrow and Gatwick, they sell to about 18 or 19 per cent of departing passengers," said Colm McLoughlin, the executive vice chairman of Dubai Duty Free. "We sell to about half of departing passengers."
Surging passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport is encouraging companies such as Dubai Duty Free and Emirates Airline to hire thousands of new staff, driving the emirate's rebound as the economy grows at its fastest rate since 2009.
Mr McLoughlin said that the retailer had hired 1,200 staff in the past two months alone as it prepared to add 8,000 square metres of retail space with the opening of the airport's Concourse A next year. It currently covers 18,000 sq metres of retail space.
"That will ease considerable congestion that we have now in the Emirates terminal and we think it will improve our business there," he said.
Dubai Duty Free expects sales to grow to about $3bn within five years . That is not only aiding its own expansion but also providing funds for the growth of the airport itself - including to help finance a new terminal with twice the footprint of London Heathrow's Terminal 5.
"Three years down the road, Concourse Four will be built at this airport. Most of the financing for that has been done by Dubai Duty Free," Mr McLoughlin said. "We have already taken a loan for $1.7 billion, which is for that project, and we will put another 7,000 square metres of retail space in there."
He said that while there were no immediate plans for Dubai Duty Free to raise further capital for the airport's expansion, he would not rule out the possibility.
Passenger traffic at the airport grew 8 per cent to 51 million last year and is expected to rise by more than 11 per cent this year to about 57 million.
Alpen Capital estimates the Middle East now accounts for about 7 per cent of the $46bnannual duty-free and travel retail sector. The sector has continued to expand in the region despite the Arab Spring.
"Dubai Duty Free has continued to maintain good momentum in 2012 and is on course to achieve another double-digit year on year growth in revenues," said Sameena Ahmad, the managing director of Alpen Capital. "Healthy tourist inflows from the Asia Pacific countries provide impetus to the region's duty free sales. Chinese travellers, in particular, are major consumers of watches and fashion products at the Dubai Duty Free."
Last week, the retailer recorded sales of $21m in a single day when it celebrated its 29th anniversary on December 20 with a 25 per cent discount offer. Perfumes were the biggest sellers of the day, with 58,000 bottles sold amounting to Dh20.5m. Watches and clocks were in second place with Dh17.8m in sales.
scronin@thenational.ae
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
THE 12 BREAKAWAY CLUBS
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
On sale: now
Price: from Dh195,000
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
NEW ARRIVALS
Benjamin Mendy (Monaco) - £51.75m (Dh247.94m)
Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) - £45.9m
Bernardo Silva (Monaco) - £45m
Ederson Moraes (Benfica) - £36m
Danilo (Real Madrid) - £27m
Douglas Luiz (Vasco de Gama) - £10.8m
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
THE SPECS
Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 523hp
Torque: 750Nm
Price: Dh469,000
The Transfiguration
Director: Michael O’Shea
Starring: Eric Ruffin, Chloe Levine
Three stars
THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now