Economic downturn hits Fraport Group retail revenue in 2009

GERMANY. Retail & Real Estate revenues at Frankfurt Airport owner Fraport Group fell by -2.1% year-on-year in 2009 to €362.9 million, the company said today. But despite the impact of the economic crisis, which hit overall revenues and passenger numbers, retail revenue per passenger rose marginally (+0.7% to €2.86) in the year.

Within Retail & Real Estate, retail revenues fell from €144.5 million to €137.4 million in the year. Shopping revenues (adjusted marginally due to changes in internal accounting) fell from €85.3 million to €83 million.

Group revenue for 2009 was €1.92 billion, down by -6.1% on 2009. EBITDA was €552.9 million, a fall of -8% and EBIT was €290.4 million, a drop of -19.2%. Group net profit fell by -20.1% to €157.3 million.

The company noted a continuing rebound in passenger traffic across its operations. Fraport handled 73.7 million passengers in 2009, down by -2.6%, with Frankfurt Airport traffic down by -4.7% at 50.9 million. Fraport said it expected an impact of -1% on February traffic from last month’s Lufthansa strike.

Looking ahead, the company maintains its plans to invest €4.5 billion to develop Frankfurt Airport in the period 2010-2015. Among the key projects is the new Pier A+, which will deliver 10,000sq m of new retail space in 2012.

For 2010 the group expects an increase of between +1% and +2% in passenger volumes at Frankfurt, EBITDA of at least €600 million, though it said net profit is forecast to decline.

“The best thing about last year’s financial results is our outlook for 2010,” said Fraport Executive Board Chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte. “We are optimistic that we have risen from the trough of decline following the extremely high traffic fall at the beginning of 2009, which gradually improved quarter by quarter.”

He added: “Competition among the global hubs will certainly intensify, but we are confident that we can improve our good position – including via Frankfurt Airport’s capacity expansion.”

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