Fraport’s international business sees strong revenue growth

The Fraport Group saw revenue and earnings figures increase significantly during the first quarter of business year 2018 (ending March 31). Supported by strong passenger growth at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and most of the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio, Group revenue advanced by 15.0% to €681.7m. Major revenue contributions came from Fraport Greece (€44.3m) and Fraport Brasil (€30.8m) – following the startup of Fraport’s operations at Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) on January 2. At FRA, higher income from airport charges, security services and parking contributed to the Group’s revenue growth.

Fraport AG’s executive board chairman, Dr. Stefan Schulte, said: “The upward trend from the previous year has continued unabated, both at our international Group companies and at Frankfurt Airport. At our Frankfurt home base, we are working at full speed to meet future growth which is being spurred mainly by the positive development of network airlines. Therefore, we are pushing forward with the construction of our new Terminal 3 and will be realizing Pier G earlier than scheduled. At the same time, we are continuing to invest in the infrastructure and processes of our two existing terminals.”

Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) increased by 27.2% to €174.7m, with the Group companies in Fortaleza and Porto Alegre contributing €9.2m. Despite higher depreciation and amortization in the amount of €10.2m – mainly in connection with Fraport Greece – Group EBIT reached €82.3m (up 49.4%). The negative financial result continued to decline noticeably, from minus €29.2m to minus €56.1m. This was largely attributable to higher interest expenses both at Fraport Greece (up €18.2m) and the Group companies in Fortaleza and Porto Alegre (up €3.1m). Correspondingly, Group EBT expanded only slightly by 1.2% to €26.2m. The Group result (net profit) rose by 4.3% to €19.6m, stimulated by slightly lower taxes on income.

Operating cash flow noticeably slipped by 36.1% to €80.5m in the first three months of 2018, attributable to reporting date-related changes in working capital. With minus €66.9m, free cash flow clearly fell into negative territory, as a result of higher investments at FRA and the Group companies in Fortaleza and Porto Alegre, as well as Fraport Greece (Q1 2017: €54.0m).

Jumping by 10.0% to 14.4 million passengers, traffic at Frankfurt Airport continued to gain momentum during the first quarter of 2018. Most of the Fraport Group’s international airports also reported significant and partly double-digit growth rates. In particular, Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey continued to rebound strongly compared to the first quarter of 2017. Only the Greek regional airports registered a slight decline in accumulated passenger numbers (down 2.1%), due mainly to the runway closure at high-traffic Thessaloniki Airport (SKG) for renovation and extension works.