Fraport Group Interim Report - Nine Months 2016: Fraport Reports Robust Performance Despite Challenging Market ConditionsNovember 3, 2016 46/2016

Frankfurt (ots) - Key financial figures slightly down overall in
9M 2016 - Group result expected to rise significantly due to special
effects - Fraport's international portfolio achieves mixed results

In the first three quarters of the 2016 business year, the Fraport
Group achieved revenue of EUR1.94 billion (adjusted for IFRIC 12),
thus continuing its positive performance from the previous year. The
Group's operating result or EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortization) slightly declined by two percent to
EUR677 million in the first nine months, while the Group result
dropped nine percent to EUR239 million. Likewise, operating cash flow
reduced by five percent to around EUR500 million in the first nine
months. As a result, free cash flow decreased by 20 percent to EUR310
million, also reflecting higher capital expenditure for property,
plant and equipment at Frankfurt Airport.

Fraport's financial performance has been impacted in particular by
the current geopolitical situation, which has led in part to marked
declines in passenger traffic both at Fraport's home-base Frankfurt
Airport and, especially, at individual Group airports within
Fraport's international portfolio. From January to September 2016, a
total of 46.7 million passengers passed through Frankfurt Airport
(FRA), down 1.2 percent. Cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail,
excluding transfer cargo) rose by 1.1 percent to 1.55 million metric
tons, reflecting the slight recovery in the global economy.

Commenting on the Group's business performance, Fraport AG's
executive board chairman, Dr. Stefan Schulte, pointed out the
challenging market environment in which the company is operating:
"As a globally linked industry, aviation is particularly affected by
current geopolitical conflicts and risks. And Fraport is not entirely
immune to these developments. Therefore, it is even more important
that our Group operates a broadly diversified portfolio, which we
expect to generate considerable positive effects over the business
year as a whole."

"Equally important is the fact that growth trends continue to be
intact in the aviation industry. Overall, Fraport has achieved robust
performance during the first nine months of 2016, despite challenging
market conditions." In view of the ongoing slowdown in air travel
demand as a result of geopolitical factors - which became manifest
particularly during the summer peak months - Fraport is maintaining
its outlook for the full year (as updated after the first half of
2016) and is still expecting a slight decline in year-on-year
passenger traffic at FRA.

The fourth quarter of 2016 will see positive special effects as a
result of payments received from the Manila and St. Petersburg
projects. In Manila, the 14-year-long expropriation lawsuit was
successfully concluded. The payment granted to Fraport as a result of
the settlement is expected to have a net effect of some EUR120
million on the Group result (after tax). In addition, the transaction
from the partial sale of Fraport's share in its St. Petersburg
subsidiary was concluded in October 2016. This will have a positive
influence on the Group result in the amount of about EUR35 million.
CEO Schulte said: "The partial sale of our share in St. Petersburg
has demonstrated that we are not only able to buy airports or
concessions, but that we can also boost their attractiveness amid
difficult market environments, even enabling us to sell them for a
profit."

For the full year 2016, Fraport now expects EBITDA to reach
between approximately EUR1.04 billion and up to approximately EUR1.08
billion (instead of the previously expected range of EUR850 million
to EUR880 million). Due to the two special effects, the Group result
is expected to increase noticeably to a range of about EUR400 million
up to approximately EUR440 million (before, the Group result was
expected to slightly exceed the previous year's level of EUR297
million).

Fraport AG's international portfolio of airports reported mixed
results in the first three quarters of 2016. Group airports in
Ljubljana (Slovenia), Antalya (Turkey), St. Petersburg (Russia), and
Hanover (Germany) recorded declining passenger numbers, largely due
to geopolitical framework conditions. In contrast, Fraport's airports
in Lima (Peru), Burgas and Varna (both Bulgaria), as well as Xi'an
(China) achieved double-digit growth rates in the first three
quarters of 2016.

Overview of Fraport's four business segments:

Aviation: Revenue in the Aviation segment shrank by 1.9 percent to
EUR793.3 million in the first nine months of 2016. Among other
things, the segment's revenue was negatively impacted by declining
passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport. With operating expenses
remaining almost level, the segment's EBITDA contracted by 4.6
percent to EUR192.4 million. Due to slightly higher depreciation and
amortization, the segment's EBIT fell 12 percent to EUR98.5 million.

Retail & Real Estate: Revenue in the Retail & Real Estate segment
improved by four percent to EUR370.9 million. The growth was
primarily driven by higher revenue from sales of land, which more
than compensated for the decline in revenue of the retail
sub-segment. The slowdown in the retail business reflects a number of
factors, including decreased passenger numbers at FRA, a change in
the passenger mix, and a more restrained spending behavior per
passenger on average - partly attributable to currency exchange-rate
effects. Correspondingly, net retail revenue per passenger dropped to
EUR3.38 (from EUR3.49 in the previous year). Segment EBITDA slipped
by 1.5 percent to EUR281.9 million, due to higher operating expenses.
With depreciation and amortization almost level, the segment's EBIT
reached EUR218.5 million (down 2.3 percent).

Ground Handling: Revenue in the Ground Handling segment contracted
by 7.6 percent year-on-year to EUR478.2 million, primarily due to the
sale of Fraport's share in its former FCS cargo subsidiary. Adjusted
by this one-off effect, the segment would have seen an increase in
revenue of 1.8 percent. Despite declining passenger numbers at FRA,
segment EBITDA grew by EUR4.4 million to EUR44.9 million. This was
largely a result of lower personnel expenses and cost of materials in
connection with the sale of the FCS stake in 2015. Triggered by this
effect, the segment's EBIT soared by 59.8 percent to EUR15.5 million.

External Activities & Services: Segment revenue increased by 8.2
percent to EUR417.3 million in the first nine months of 2016. Growth
was stimulated by a rise in passenger traffic at the Group's airports
in Lima, Peru, and the two Bulgarian airports in Burgas and Varna, as
well as higher revenue achieved at the company's AMU Holdings
subsidiary in the U.S. The segment's EBITDA, on the other hand,
shrank by 1.7 percent to EUR157.5 million. This was due to a one-off
effect in the previous year (extra revenue from the sale of the
Air-Transport IT Services subsidiary in the U.S.) and a rise in
operating expenses for service activities at FRA. With depreciation
and amortization down slightly, the segment's EBIT declined by 1.4
percent to EUR97.2 million.

The Group Interim Report can be found on the Fraport website at
http://ots.de/qh8vB

For further information about Fraport AG please click here:
http://ots.de/aboutFraport

Contact:
Fraport AG
Christian Engel
Spokesperson
Press Office, Corp. Communications
60547 Frankfurt, Germany
Telephone: +49 69 690-30713
E-mail: c.engel2@fraport.de
Internet: www.fraport.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport

Original-Content von: Fraport AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell