GERMANY. Frankfurt Airport owner Fraport has reported a +2.8% year-on-year rise in retail revenue for the first nine months of 2017, to €153 million.
Within the Retail & Real Estate division, revenue rose by +6.3% to €394.2 million. The increase was largely attributed to higher proceeds from property sales and a +4.6% increase in passenger volume at Frankfurt Airport to a record 48.9 million.
However, net retail income per passenger decreased by -2.1% to €3.31. Factors contributing to the decline included the depreciation of various currencies against the Euro, as well as the changing passenger mix at Frankfurt Airport.
“Passengers flying on European routes tend to spend less than passengers on intercontinental routes – with European traffic growing particularly strongly at Frankfurt,” Fraport said.
EBITDA for the Retail & Real Estate division grew slightly (+2.2%) to €288.2 million, while EBIT climbed +3.2% to €225.6 million.
Fraport reported a +13.7% rise in group revenue in the first nine months to €2.23 billion. The group’s international business contributed considerably to revenue growth, primarily due to the operational takeover of 14 Greek airports. There were also revenue gains at Fraport’s Lima Airport company.
Overall EBITDA increased + 19.4% to €807.7 million. Fraport said the performance of its Antalya subsidiary was important. It posted significantly better earnings (+€21.2 million compared to -€8.8 million in the first nine months of 2016, on the basis of Fraport’s 50% share).
Operating cash flow rose +37.3% to €687.4 million. Free cash flow increased +25.1% to €388.0 million.
“After the first nine months of the year, we are absolutely on course to achieve our annual targets,” said Fraport Executive Board Chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte. “The solid performance delivered by our group airports made a particularly important contribution to the rising result.
“With the successful operational takeover of the 14 Greek airports and the double-win of two airport concessions at Fortaleza and Porto Alegre in Brazil, we are systematically expanding our global airport business.
“Furthermore, we are also achieving solid growth in Frankfurt again, where we made the necessary strategic decisions at the right time.”
Fraport expects group revenue (including the new Greek airports), to reach up to €2.9 billion by the end of 2017, with EBITDA in the range of about €980 million to €1,020 million, and the group result in the range of €310 million to €350 million. Passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport is expected to grow by about +5% in 2017.