Fraport increases revenue and operating result in the first half of the year

During the first half of 2012, the Fraport Group’s revenue increased by 2.5 percent to about €1.154 billion. Operating result (EBITDA: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) rose by two percent to €365.7 million. Higher depreciations and amortization as well as a decline in the financial result – mainly due to the inauguration of Frankfurt Airport’s new Runway Northwest and the continuing high investments for the new Pier A-Plus at Terminal 1 – led to a 17.4 percent decline in the Group result to €86.9 million.

Future-oriented capacity expansion of Fraport’s home base airport resulted in an increasing number of passengers at Frankfurt Airport (FRA): up 3.4 percent to 27.4 million in the first half of 2012. Despite strikes in February and March – which led to a cancellation of a total of 2,150 flights – FRA still achieved a new passenger traffic record for the first six months of the year. Fraport’s foreign airports contributed positively to the Group’s performance. Group-wide, the fully and partially consolidated airports (Frankfurt, Antalya, Lima, Burgas, Varna) served 44.2 million passengers in the first half of the year, up 2.8 percent.

In contrast to passenger traffic, Fraport’s cargo volume dropped. The weakness of the global economy and the European debt-crisis affected the movement of goods at the Fraport home base — where airfreight tonnage fell (minus 9.9 percent) as well as Group-wide (minus 9.0 percent). The night-time flight curfew, implemented at the end of October 2011, also strengthened the decline.

Looking at Fraport’s individual business segments, revenue for the Aviation segment grew by €29.9 million – benefitting from current growth in passenger traffic as well as from the increase in airport charges at Frankfurt Airport. However, the Retail and Real Estate segment dropped by €4.2 million due to lower revenue from sales of property sites at the Mönchhof Logistics Park. Revenue for the Ground Handling segment declined by €8.2 million, primarily because of the continued drop in cargo business as well as lower MTOWs (accumulated Maximum Takeoff Weight). The External Activities and Services segment, which essentially comprises activities of Group companies outside of FRA, posted a €10.5 million gain in revenue – mainly because of the positive traffic development at Lima Airport (LIM).

Fraport AG’s executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte reconfirmed the Group’s forecast for the current year: “During this difficult period in the air transportation industry our figures have been developing as planned and we are sticking to our goals for 2012.” At the company’s annual general meeting in May of this year, Schulte stated that passenger growth at Frankfurt Airport is forecast to be less than four percent for 2012. Revenue is expected to exceed €2.5 billion and EBITDA. is expected to climb by at least five percent. The Group result will remain at about the same level as in 2011. Schulte also expressed optimism about infrastructure development: “Frankfurt Airport’s new runway creates the necessary capacity for the expected long-term growth in global air traffic. The Pier A-Plus, which will be inaugurated on schedule on October 10, will represent a quantum leap in quality and service for our passengers at Frankfurt Airport.” FRA’s total terminal capacity will expand with the new Pier A-Plus, which will offer docking positions for seven wide-body jets and serve up to six million passengers per year.

Fraport’s interim report for the first half of 2012 can be downloaded from the Investor Relations section of the www.fraport.com Web site (from 7 a.m. CET on Wednesday, August 8, 2012).