IS DUTY Free Shoppers (DFS), the global monolith of the industry whose market-leading position was built from humble foundations in Hong Kong, losing its touch? There have been plenty for detractors to draw on in the last week. On Monday, DFS lost the bidding battle for three highly prized licences at the new airport at Chek Lap Kok - one that included the rights to sell duty-free alcohol and tobacco, a second comprising the rights to sell perfume and cosmetics and the third allowing the winning bidder to retail general merchandise.
The failure to win the alcohol/tobacco licence was seen as a blow to DFS, given that a winning bid was expected to attract revenues of HK$2 billion a year.
DFS's inability to lure any of the licences comes as a surprise, and has analysts divided on whether the US$4.2 billion empire simply refused to pay more than what it regards as a fair price for airport licences or was losing out in the lobbying stakes.
The Airport Authority's decision capped a turbulent few months for the group, marked by the bitter battle between the company's two founders, Robert Miller and Charles Feeney, over the sale of a majority stake to luxury goods giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Mr Feeney sold his 38.75 per cent stake in DFS to LVMH last year, while Mr Miller has so far held out against formally selling out.
In the wake of DFS's latest problem, senior company representatives declined to talk directly to the press.