The firm on Thursday said turnover had reached Dhs2.818 billion ($ 772 million), placing the operation well on track for annual sales of Dhs6 billion ($ 1.64 billion).

Liquor, perfumes and gold retained the top three category positions, with perfumes in particular showing strong growth with a sales increase of 16 per cent to Dhs420 million ($ 115 million) year to date.

Sales of confectionery were up by 18 per cent to Dhs224 million ($ 61 million) while electronics rose by 13 per cent to Dhs222 million ($ 61 million), accounting for eight per cent of total revenue. A notable increases was also seen in cosmetics, which rose by 18 per cent.

Spending trends across all three Terminals continued to increase with duty free sales in Terminal 2 increasing by 18 per cent for the first half of the year. Sales in Terminals 1 and 3 rose by 11 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, while overall arrival sales rose by 15 per cent.

Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, said: “We are pleased with our first half performance and are looking forward to an equally busy second half of the year.

“Plans are very much in place for the opening of Concourse 3 in early 2013 and we are busy working towards the final fit-out of the new retail area and ensuring our recruitment plans are in line with our expanded retail area which will reach 26,000 square metres with the opening of Concourse 3.”

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