Fraport Interim Report – First Quarter 2016: Fraport Starts Off the Year with Mixed Financial Results

FRANKFURT, Germany, May 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Challenging Business Environment Persists - Most of the Group's Airports Report Traffic Growth 

FRA/gk-rap - In the first quarter of 2016, some 13 million passengers passed through Frankfurt Airport (FRA), representing an increase of 3.3 percent year-on-year.  On the back of that growth, Fraport achieved higher revenue from airport and infrastructure charges as well as from aircraft handling.  Simultaneously, net retail revenue per passenger declined from €3.93 to €3.62 on the previous year.  One reason was the non-recurrence of particularly high income gained in the first quarter of 2015, when the cap on the Swiss franc's euro exchange rate was removed.  Other reasons included a changed passenger structure and a decline in the average retail spending of Chinese and Russian passengers, reflecting the loss of purchasing power of their respective currencies.

Outside Frankfurt, the Group's subsidiaries - particularly in Lima and Ljubljana as well as Twin Star and AMU Holdings Inc. - contributed positively to Fraport's overall revenue performance.  While the airports in Ljubljana (Slovenia), Varna and Burgas (Bulgaria), Xi'an (China), Hanover (Germany), and Lima (Peru) partially recorded strong traffic growth, passenger figures at the airports in Antalya (Turkey) and St. Petersburg (Russia) declined in line with expectations.

Adjusted Group revenue rose by €14.7 million (up 2.6 percent) to €572.5 million in the first quarter of 2016.  The Group's operating result or EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) declined by 4.9 percent to €145.6 million in the first quarter, due to higher expenditure resulting from, among other things, collective wage agreements and non-capitalizable investments made at FRA.  In contrast, the Group's financial result improved from minus €56.4 million to minus €42.5 million, due to lower interest expenses and lower losses related to currency exchange rates.  
This led to an overall positive performance of the Group result, soaring by €4.5 million (or 42.5 percent) to €15.1 million year-on-year. Correspondingly, earnings per share rose by €0.05 to €0.16 - an increase of 45.5 percent.

With operating cash flow on the decline, free cash flow - while remaining in positive territory - also shrank by 30.7 percent, from €65.2 million in the previous year to €45.2 million in the first quarter of 2016.  Net financial liabilities amounted to approximately €2.75 billion in the first quarter, while the gearing ratio reached 82.8 percent (compared to €2.77 billion and 83.8 percent respectively as of December 31, 2015).

In view of the results achieved in the first quarter of 2016, Fraport AG's executive board is maintaining its outlook for the Group's asset, financial, and earnings position in business year 2016.  However, executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte pointed out that the year 2016 will bring about a number of challenges for the aviation industry and thus also for Fraport AG: "Metaphorically speaking, we are currently maneuvering in a stormy sea. The geopolitical situation is impacting air traffic in Russia and Turkey - where we hold major airport investments - and tourism flows in general.  The summer season will show the direction in which our business will develop in 2016."

Fraport AG's interim report for the first quarter of 2016 is available via our corporate website (http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en), under Investor Relations.

Print-quality photos of Fraport AG and Frankfurt Airport are available for free downloading via the photo library located in our Press Center on the Fraport Web site. For TV news and information broadcasting purposes only, we also offer free footage material for downloading. If you wish to meet a member of our press team when at Frankfurt Aiport, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our contact details are available here.

Fraport AG - which ranks among the world's leading companies in the global airport business - offers a full range of integrated airport management services and boasts subsidiaries and investments on three continents. The Fraport Group generated sales of €2.6 billion and profit of about €297 million in 2015. In 2015, some 111 million passengers used airports around the world in which Fraport has more than a 50 percent stake. In its Mission Statement, Fraport places the focus on customers. The Group's commitment to ensuring a "good trip" to all passengers and travelers is also reflected in the corporate slogan: "Gute Reise! We make it happen". This commitment applies to all of Fraport's business activities and services both at Germany's largest aviation hub in Frankfurt and the Group's airports worldwide.

At its Frankfurt Airport (FRA) home base, Fraport welcomed more than 61 million passengers and handled about 2.1 million metric tons of cargo (airfreight and airmail) in 2015. For the current summer timetable, FRA is served by 95 passenger airlines flying to 290 destinations in some 100 countries worldwide. Half of FRA's destinations are intercontinental (beyond Europe) - underscoring Frankfurt's role as a leading hub in the global air transportation system. In Europe, Frankfurt Airport ranks second in terms of cargo tonnage and is the fourth busiest for passenger traffic.  With about 55 percent of all passengers using Frankfurt as a connecting hub, FRA also has the highest transfer rate among the major European hubs.

Frankfurt Airport City has become Germany's largest job complex at a single location, employing more than 80,000 people at some 500 companies and organizations on site. Almost half of Germany's population lives within a 200-kilometer radius of the FRA intermodal travel hub - the largest airport catchment area in Europe. FRA Airport City also serves as a magnet for other companies located throughout the economically vital Frankfurt/Rhine-Main-Neckar region. Thanks to synergies associated with the region's dynamic industries, networked expertise, and outstanding intermodal transportation infrastructure, FRA's world route network enables Hesse's and Germany's export-oriented businesses to flourish in global growth markets. Likewise, FRA is a strategic gateway for companies wanting to access the huge European marketplace.  Thus, Frankfurt Airport - which is strategically located in the heart of Europe - is one of the most important hubs in the global logistics chain.  

Fraport AG
Christopher Holschier       Telephone:  +49-69-690-70553
Corporate Communications    E-mail:  c.holschier@fraport.de
Press Office                Internet:  http://www.fraport.com
60547 Frankfurt, Germany    Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport