Chinese airport shares (and traffic) bounce back, Ferrovial eases as BAA traffic continue to improve
Chinese airport shares bounced back, ending the week on a positive note and leading the increase in airport shares on Friday (09-Oct-2009) while European airport shares remained mixed as airport traffic in Aug-2009 showed "timid" signs of recovery, according to ACI-EUROPE.
Solid growth in China
According to the CAAC, passenger numbers rose 22% year-on-year to 5.3 million during the Chinese National Holiday Golden Week period, between 28-Sep-2009 and 08-Oct-2009, which included one extra day compared to 20008. The result sent shares in China's major airports rising, including Shanghai Airport (+3.7%), Shenzhen Airport (+3.4%) and Beijing Airport (+2.7%).
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport's shares rose 3.3%. The airport also reported the following traffic highlights in Sep-2009:
- Passenger numbers: 3.0 million, +12% year-on-year;
- Aircraft movements: 25,256, +13.6%.
Hainan Meilan International Airport's shares went against the trend, easing 0.2%, following the release of a mixed Sep-2009 traffic report:
- Passenger numbers: 524,380, +1.0% year-on-year;
- Cargo volume: 9,727 tonnes, +16.1%;
- Aircraft movements: 4,506, +6.6%.
BAA and ACI-EUROPE see signs of a recovery
In Europe, shares in Ferrovial, parent of UK's BAA, eased 0.2% on Friday following the release of BAA's Sep-2009 traffic results, which again showed mixed results across its portfolio of airports. Passenger numbers at London Heathrow eased 0.3% year-on-year, after reporting its busiest August ever, which also represented its second consecutive monthly increase.
Passenger traffic at London Gatwick showed significant improvement ahead of its likely sale, attributed to European scheduled business travel. Gatwick traffic easing just 0.5% in Sep-2009, following a 4.6% reduction in Aug-2009. The result represented the best performance since May-2008.
The cautious optimism was shared by ACI-EUROPE. European airports reported a 4.5% decline in passenger traffic and an 11.7% fall in cargo traffic in Aug-2009. ACI-EUROPE stated that although cargo traffic across its member airports registered its second monthly growth in Aug-2009, a "full recovery is not yet in sight".
Autogrill higher
Meanwhile, shares in Italy's Autogrill gained 0.2%. The retail operator revised its 2009 outlook forecast on 11-Oct-2009, including EUR5.7 billion in revenue and an EBITDA of EUR600 million.
Selected airports daily share price movements (% change): 09-Oct-2009
