Upper Crust owner posts elevated sales as passengers face lengthy airport queues
Upper Crust and Ritazza sites saw quarterly sales elevated as passengers flocked back to railway stations and airports.
Travel food operator SSP said on Thursday its revenue had recovered to 87 per cent of 2019 levels for the third quarter, including a benefit from price hikes.
It accredited the sales boost to an ongoing recovery in passenger numbers, as passengers spent more time in travel hubs.
Domestic and leisure travel at stations and airports had driven sales while railway commuter traffic “continues to recover well, albeit at a slower pace than leisure travel,” the firm said.
It comes as air passengers have been forced to turn up hours earlier for flights this summer with holidaymakers facing lengthy queues and flight delays.
Continental Europe led SSP’s recovery in the quarter, with quarterly sales averaging 93 per cent of 2019 levels and 82 per cent in the UK.
Trading in train stations in the UK had been “impacted” by recent industrial action, the company admitted, acknowledging “current challenges of airport disruption, labour shortages and industrial action across certain air and rail markets,” in its global outlook.
Total group revenue averaged 72 per cent of pre-Covid levels, for the nine months to 30 June.
Increasing inflationary pressures such as labour and energy costs were “anticipated to persist well into next year,” much like in the hospitality industry, SSP said.
It added: “However, we are confident in our ability to manage these pressures through productivity and pricing initiatives and expect to mitigate the impact on profit, whilst sustaining the positive momentum in consumer demand.”
Sales were expected to be in the region of £2.1bn and EBITDA margin in the region of six per cent which is at the upper end of our previous full year guidance range.