Swiss duty-free retailer Avolta said on Wednesday that it is too early to estimate the effects of the escalating conflict in the Middle East on its operations, following publication of its full-year 2025 results.
Markets have been unsettled by the growing tensions in the region, prompting concerns that a widening war could trigger an oil price shock, push inflation higher and postpone expectations for interest rate cuts.
Commenting on the situation, Chief Financial Officer Yves Gerster said the company’s direct exposure to the Middle East is limited, representing roughly 3% of Avolta’s turnover. He added that the firm does not yet know how the broader global economy or consumer sentiment might evolve.
"It is still very early, our footprint in the Middle East is only around 3% of turnover, and we don’t know from today’s perspective what happens with the global economy and consumer sentiment," Gerster said on a call.
Gerster also said the company has examined historical oil-price data and assessed correlations between oil movements and several metrics relevant to the duty-free sector, including Avolta’s own growth, industry growth more generally, and passenger numbers. He reported only a very small relationship.
"We looked into the data of oil prices historically and the correlation between our growth and the industry growth in general, even passenger numbers and the oil price evolution, is very small. So there’s a very weak correlation."
The conflict has entered a further stage of escalation, with the US-Israel war with Iran extending into its second week. A spokesperson for the Khatam ol Anbia joint command said on Wednesday that Iran would target economic and banking interests linked to the U.S. and Israel in the Middle East.
When asked whether the company was considering evacuating staff or temporarily closing sites in the region, Gerster said Avolta does not intend to take such steps at present.
"Absolutely not. It is too early to take actions like that, and the strength we have in our business is to have the geographical diversification," he said.
In a separate section of commentary included with the company update, a third-party stock-analysis service noted that its AI evaluates AVOLz among thousands of companies using numerous financial metrics and that the AI identifies stock ideas based on fundamentals, momentum and valuation. The commentary referenced notable past winners identified by that service.
For now, Avolta is maintaining its current operational stance while monitoring developments in the Middle East and broader market reactions to oil-price and inflation risks.