FRANKFURT,
August 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The economic and financial crisis
also left its mark on Fraport AG in the first six months of the current year.
Group-wide passenger traffic in the first half of 2009 dropped 5.8 percent
year-on-year, while the Frankfurt Airport (FRA) home base registered 8
percent fewer passengers. Adjusted for consolidation effects, Group revenue
slipped 2.2 percent year-on-year to
EUR941.2 million; EBITDA (earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) fell 10.5 percent compared to
the same period last year to
EUR255.4 million. Group profit continued to be
positive, too, reaching
EUR70.1 million. However, this was 31.1 percent less
than in the January-to-
June 2008 period, before the global regression set in.
Approximately 24.2 million passengers used FRA in the reporting period,
down 2.1 million year-on-year. Falling by 10.9 percent in the first quarter,
passenger demand slowed down its pace of decline to 5.6 percent in the second
quarter. Nevertheless, net retail proceeds per passenger climbed during the
same period by 4.3 percent to EUR2.90 from EUR2.78 last year. From January to
June 2009, FRA's cargo throughput dropped by 21.4 percent to approximately
849,000 metric tons of airfreight and airmail. Aircraft movements shrank 5.7
percent to nearly 228,000 takeoffs and landings.
The Group's airports welcomed a total of 32.8 million passengers during
the January-to-June 2009 period, only 5.8 percent less than in the same
period last year. Peru's Lima Airport (LIM) even registered a 6.3 percent
increase in passengers, while Turkey's Antalya Airport (AYT) recorded only
0.5 percent fewer passengers than in the first half of 2008.
The Fraport Group's gross sales revenues slipped by EUR99 million or 9.5
percent year-on-year to EUR945.5 million. Adjusted for the consolidation
effects from the sale of Fraport's ICTS Europe security subsidiary and
Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn GmbH in the first quarter of 2008 as well as for the
positive effect from the higher proportionate consolidation of the Antalya
investment since January 2009, Group revenue slipped only 2.2 percent or
EUR21.3 million below the adjusted previous year's figure to EUR941.2 million.
Personnel expenses decreased from EUR495.1 million to EUR433.2 million in
the reporting period - also mainly because of consolidation effects.
Adjusted, personnel expenses grew by approximately EUR5 million or 1.1
percent because of additional financial burdens in the amount of EUR11.6
million resulting from a collective pay settlement. Cost-reducing effects
resulted partly from adjusting personnel deployed to the declining traffic
volume.
Unadjusted non-staff costs declined from EUR318 million to EUR300.3
million. Adjusted for special effects, material costs and other operating
expenses fell only EUR3.4 million or 1.1 percent below the adjusted previous
year's value to EUR299.5 million. Total operating expenses adjusted for
special effects reached EUR732.1 million, only EUR1.3 million more than in
the first six months of 2008.
Group EBITDA shrank by 10.5 percent or EUR30 million to EUR255.4 million.
Group profit fell EUR31.7 million (31.1 percent) below the adjusted previous
year's figure to EUR70.1 million. Basic earnings per share decreased by 31.8
percent to EUR0.75.
Following the ongoing curbing effect of the economic crisis on business
development in the first half of the year, Fraport still expects the global
downturn to affect the outlook for air traffic development for the entire
year 2009. At its Frankfurt home base, the airport operator continues to
anticipate passenger decline of between six and nine percent, especially
since the effects of the flu pandemic can currently not be assessed. Thus,
Group EBITDA at year end is expected to range between EUR500 to EUR530
million, compared to EUR590 million - on an adjusted basis - in the previous
year. Group profit will also be below the 2008 level.
Fraport AG's executive board chairman Dr. Wilhelm Bender said: "Despite
the crisis we continued to be in the black, which puts us in a good starting
position for the time after the crisis." Furthermore, commencement of
construction on the new runway set an important signal for the future
viability and competitiveness of Frankfurt Airport. "Thus, we have created
planning security for the airlines again. With the completion of the new
runway in 2011, Frankfurt Airport and Fraport AG will benefit
over-proportionately from the catch-up effects of air transportation that
usually follow a crisis," Bender added.
Print-quality photos of Frankfurt Airport and Fraport AG are available
free for downloading via the Internet at http://www.fraport.com (Menu: select
Press Center > then Photo Service). For TV news and information broadcasting
purposes only, we also offer free footage material for downloading via
http://fraport.cms-gomex.com.
For Further information, Please Contact:
Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
Robert A. Payne, B.A.A. - Manager International Press
Press Office (Dept. UKM-PS), Corporate Communications (UKM)
60547 Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of Germany
Tel.: +49-69-690-78547; Fax: +49-69-690-60548;
E-mail: r.payne@fraport.de; Internet: http://www.fraport.com
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