Fraport: Substantial Growth of Revenue and EBITDA – Group Result Increases by One-Third
Frankfurt (FRAPORT) – The Fraport Group's revenue and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) continued to grow substantially in the first six months of 2006. Compared to the same period last year, revenue increased by 3.5 percent to €1,037.3 million. EBITDA climbed over-proportionally by twelve percent to €288.4 million from January to June 2006. Group profit at €97.0 million was 33.6 percent higher than in the previous year. Earnings per share rose from €0.80 to €1.06.
During the first two quarters of the year 25,065,512 passengers used the FRA air transportation hub - 1.3 percent more than in the previous record year 2005. Weather and strike-related flight cancellations during the first three months of the year were compensated by the high passenger traffic during the 2006 World Cup games.
The Fraport Group served a total of 33,910,156 passengers from January to June 2006, down 0.6 percent from the first six months of 2005. This slight decline is due to the distribution of passenger traffic until the end of April at Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey. Since May the number of passengers passing through the Fraport-Terminal in Antalya is on the rise again so that we expect a noticeable improvement of the Group's passenger count during the third quarter of 2006. Fraport registered noticeable growth again at its Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (HHN) location. HHN counted 1,688,595 passengers (plus 18 percent) during the first half of 2006.
Regarding airfreight the boom continued in the first six months of 2006. FRA recorded a growth rate of 10 percent and handled 1,028,089 metric tons.
Compared to the first half of 2005, revenue climbed by 3.5 percent to €1,037.3 million from January to June 2006. Specifically revenue from security services had a positive effect; higher revenue from retail and parking also contributed markedly to overall revenue growth.
Operating expenses (non-staff costs and personnel expenses) increased by 4.4 percent to €801 million during the reporting period. Personnel expenses grew by 3.9 percent to €532.2 million, compared to the same period last year. Fraport's ICTS Europe security subsidiary, which saw its staff grow by 21 percent, accounted for the major share of the Group's increase in personnel expenses. Group-wide, Fraport employed 27,683 employees on average from January to June 2006 - above 10 percent more than in the same period last year. The Group's personnel expenses as a percentage of revenue reached 51.3 percent, the same as the previous year's level. The non-staff cost ratio likewise remained almost unchanged at 25.9 percent.
From January to June the EBITDA climbed to €288.4 million due to the significant increase of other operating revenue. The EBITDA margin climbed by 2.1 percentage points to 27.8 percent. The financial result was minus €8.6 million, compared to minus €19.5 million during the same period last year. The significant improvement is mainly based on the change in currency gains and losses involving the long-term financing for Antalya.
Fraport's forecast for the entire fiscal year 2006 remains unchanged. The airport operator expects continued growth in revenue and EBITDA so that the annual results will be noticeably above the top results achieved in 2005.
