Macquarie Airports surges, Copenhagen & Beijing airports higher, Vienna eases on revised outlook

Beijing Airport rose 2.5% yesterday, while Fraport's shares fell 4.3%, going against the 1.4% rise in the Frankfurt Dax 30 Index yesterday.

Shares in Vienna Airport operator, Flughafen Wien, eased 0.8%, as the company turned in weak first quarter earnings (see below) and revised its traffic estimates for the full year. It is now forecasting a decrease of 9% in the number of passengers and 8% each in maximum take-off weight and flight movements.

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Selected airports daily share price movements (% change): 26-May-09

 
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance

Flughafen Wien Group – edited press release

Revenue recorded by the Flughafen Wien Group for the first quarter of 2009 declined 5.7% year-on-year to EUR121.4 million. However, a cost reduction programme supported a 9.6% decrease in other operating expenses. EBITDA for the reporting period amounted to EUR41.7 million (-10.9%) and EBIT reached EUR 25.1 million (-15.6%). The EBITDA margin fell to 34.3% (first quarter of 2008:36.4%) and the EBIT margin to 20.7% (first quarter of 2008:23.1%) because the decrease in other operating expenses was less than the decline in revenue.

Financial results improved from minus EUR 2.7 million to minus EUR 2.0 million. After the deduction of taxes totalling EUR 5.5 million, net profit for the period equalled EUR 17.5 million (first quarter of 2008:EUR 20.8 million).
 
Revenue development was supported by all segments of the Flughafen Wien Group with the exception of the Airport Segment. The initial application of IFRS 8 resulted in the new structuring of the Group’s operating segments. Revenue recorded by the Airport Segment fell by 9.2% year-on-year.
 
Vienna International Airport handled a total of 3,660,091 passengers during the period from January to March 2009, down 14.8% year-on-year. Traffic to Eastern Europe and Western Europe fell by 18.3% and 13.9%, respectively.

The Middle East was least affected by the economic crisis with a decrease of 4.8%. An analysis of the traffic volume by airline shows a continued decline in the share of passengers handled by the Austrian Airlines Group to 48.3% (first quarter of 2008: 48.8%). The LCC segment recorded the lowest drop in passenger volume with a decrease of 12.3%.

Cargo (air cargo and trucking) fell by 19.1% to 54,220 tonnes and flight movements by 10.4% to 56,820. Seat occupancy was 2.1 percentage points lower at 61.3%.

Outlook

Traffic results for April show a further decline in all segments. In comparison with April of the previous year, the number of passengers fell by 9.5%. Flight movements and maximum take-off weight (MTOW) decreased 12.6% and 8.8%, respectively. The number of passengers travelling to Eastern Europe (scheduled and charter flights) was 22.1% lower in April 2009. The other European destinations reported a decline of 7.9%.

Flughafen Wien AG has revised its traffic estimates for the current year based on developments during the first months, and is now forecasting a decrease of 9% in the number of passengers and 8% each in maximum take-off weight and flight movements. The number of passengers handled at Vienna International Airport is expected to reach roughly 18 million by the end of 2009.
 
Capital expenditure for the period from 2009 to 2013 is now planned to total EUR 937 million (excluding the purchase of land), whereby EUR 242 million are allocated to projects that can be postponed. Investments in projects that cannot be postponed total EUR 695 million and comprise EUR 633 million of expansion projects and EUR 62 million of replacement investments. A decision on the timing of these investments will be made during the second quarter of 2009.