GMR seeks to exit Hyderabad International duty free outlets: report
20 Feb 2012
GMR Group is planning to sell Hyderabad Duty Free Retail Ltd (HDFRL), a unit that owns and manages duty free outlets at the Hyderabad International Airport, PTI today reported, citing a senior official of the company.
HDFRL is 100-per cent subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), which, in turn, is a subsidiary of GMR Infra.
The outlet at the Hyderabad airport was originally operated by Switzerland-based Nuance Group A G through a joint venture with Shopper's Stop, but was sold in June 2010 to GMR, citing poor sales.
The duty-free outlet in Hyderabad has never been a revenue churner, with extremely low footfalls making the entire operations unviable since most of passengers coming to Hyderabad are from Dubai, who buy goods from the Dubai duty-free before landing in Hyderabad.
HDFRL owns two outlets in the Hyderabad International Terminal, covering an area of 2,500 sq mts and is seeking a buyer who is operating duty free shops in at least two international airports with collective revenue of $50 million.
Due to the increase in traffic last year at Hyderabad Airport by 18 per cent, the outlets generated sales of 7.63 million.
