GERMANY. Frankfurt Airport owner Fraport has reported a +4.4% year-on-year rise in retail revenue for the first half of 2017, with the figure hitting €99 million. The performance was buoyed by a +5% increase in intercontinental traffic at Frankfurt Airport in the period, with total traffic growing by +4.5% to a new high of 30 million.
Within the Retail & Real Estate division, revenue rose by +11.8% to €268 million in the half. The figure was inflated by proceeds from land sales. Car parking revenue grew by +4.7% to €42 million. Retail accounts for around 37% of the division’s income.
The key figure of retail revenue per passenger was flat in H1 2017 at €3.49, though notably the Q2 figure at €3.28 was sharply down on Q1 at €3.76.
Among the key nationalities for retail spend, Chinese posted a healthy +11% growth in volume (aided by passenger growth) but a -6% decline in average spend. Russians continue to bounce back, with volume growth of +11% and a +2% increase in average spend. Germans contributed +3% more to retail sales volumes but on average spent -8% less than last year.
In related news, Fraport said it would end its management concession at Boston Logan Airport on 31 October (having lost the contract to MarketPlace Development earlier this year). This led to an unscheduled depreciation and amortisation in Q2 and will mean an earnings loss of €6 million in the full year.
Fraport Group H1 revenue advanced to almost €1.4 billion, an increase of +10.7% year-on-year. The group’s EBITDA and EBIT both increased markedly, by +11% to €420 million and by +12.2% to €240.7 million, respectively. Net profit climbed by +37% to €136.9 million.
In view of the “robust demand” for air travel, Fraport’s executive board has revised Frankfurt Airport’s traffic outlook for the 2017 business year slightly upward, with passenger figures expected to increase by around +5%.
