SPAIN. Airports group AENA has reported a solid set of half-year results, with consolidated revenue doubling to €1,720.6 million, a sharp recovery in commercial sales and a return to profit. This follows eight consecutive loss-making quarters since Q1 2020. The group achieved a net profit of €163.8 million between January and June, having posted a loss of €346.4 million in H1 2021.
The number of passengers increased by +287.7% year-on-year at Spain’s airports, reaching 104.9 million, or 82% of the level achieved in the first half of 2019.
Commercial revenue increased by +0.3% year-on-year to €398 million but crucially, underlying gross sales have recovered to hit 2019 levels. AENA noted that its income remains constrained by waivers and reductions related to Minimum Annual Guaranteed rents due to a law enacted in 2021, which covers the period from 15 March 2020.
However, AENA also noted that it can call on MAG payments in excess of those in 2019 for certain spaces.
Addressing the question of MAGs in the results presentation, AENA CEO Maurici Lucena said that new commercial contracts awarded from November 2021 in food & beverage and speciality shops will deliver MAGs in excess of 2019 levels in 2023.
Across the speciality shops business, the company has completed 130 tenders that will render MAGs in 2023 +8% higher than they did in 2019, he said. In food & beverage, 29 new contracts will deliver MAGs in 2023 +10% higher than those in 2019.
As reported, AENA is planning to tender duty free contracts at 26 airports across its Spanish network in the fourth quarter of 2022, with new concessions to begin on 1 November 2023.
