Fraport Group Interim Report - First Half 2019: Stable Performance Achieved During the First Six Months of the Year

Frankfurt (ots) -

- Cross-reference: Press-release is availabe at
http://www.presseportal.de/dokumente -

Revenue and earnings grow despite difficult framework conditions

During the first half of fiscal 2019 (ending June 30), the Fraport
Group achieved growth in both revenue and earnings. Group revenue
increased by 5.2 percent to EUR1,513.9 million, after adjusting for
revenue in connection with capital expenditures made for expansion
projects at Fraport's Group airports worldwide (according to IFRIC
12). At Frankfurt Airport, factors contributing to revenue growth
included higher proceeds from ground handling services and
infrastructure charges, as well as from the retail and parking
business. In Fraport's international portfolio, major contributions
came from the Lima Airport Partners subsidiary in Peru, as well as
from Fraport USA and Fraport Greece.

The operating result or Group EBITDA (earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization) advanced by 10.9 percent or by
EUR50.2 million to EUR511.5 million in the reporting period. This
amount includes a EUR22.8 million positive effect resulting from the
first-time application of the IFRS 16 accounting standard. When
adjusting for this effect, EBITDA grew by EUR27.4 million or 5.9
percent. The increase can be attributed, in particular, to the
positive performance of the Ground Handling and Retail & Real Estate
business segments in Frankfurt, with both segments benefitting, among
other things, from traffic growth at Frankfurt Airport.

Effective January 1, the mandatory IFRS 16 international financial
reporting standard establishes new rules for the accounting of
leases. Specifically, this affects the accounting of lease contracts
concluded by the Group's Fraport USA subsidiary. The application of
IFRS 16, on the one hand, led to lower operating expenses with a
respective positive impact on EBITDA. On the other hand, this
positive effect was offset by higher amortization and depreciation in
the amount of EUR21.6 million and by a EUR5.8 million increase in
interest expense. Thanks to an overall improved financial result, the
Group result (net profit) rose by EUR24.1 million or 17.1 percent to
EUR164.9 million in the reporting period.

Fraport AG's executive board chairman, Dr. Stefan Schulte,
commented: "In the first half of 2019, we successfully held our
ground amid the overall challenging market environment. I am
particularly pleased that we have been able to further increase our
passenger satisfaction levels despite intensified peak traffic, while
also reducing wait times at the security checkpoints. We remain
strongly committed to further optimizing our processes."

In the January-to-June 2019 period, operating cash flow expanded
by 13.0 percent to EUR367.5 million. In contrast, free cash flow
decreased noticeably - as forecast - by EUR282.5 million to minus
EUR305.7 million. This was due to higher capital expenditure at
Frankfurt Airport and some Group airports in Fraport's international
portfolio.

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed more than 33.6 million passengers
in the first six months of 2019, representing an increase of 3.0
percent year-on-year. Most of Fraport's Group airports worldwide also
recorded passenger growth in the reporting period. Only the two
Bulgarian airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) saw combined
traffic drop by 12.9 percent, with this trend expected to continue
over the course of the year.

For the full year 2019, Fraport AG's executive board is
maintaining its traffic forecast for FRA, where passenger numbers are
expected to rise between about two and three percent. The executive
board also confirmed the company's financial outlook for the 2019
business year, as outlined in the Annual Report 2018: Group EBITDA
between about EUR1,160 million and EUR1,195 million; Group EBIT
between about EUR685 million and EUR725 million; Group EBT between
about EUR570 million and EUR615 million; and Group result (or net
profit) between about EUR420 million and EUR460 million.

You can find the Group Interim Report on the Fraport AG website:
http://ots.de/UK6daS

For further information about Fraport AG please click here:
http://ots.de/7L590

Contact:
Fraport AG
Torben Beckmann
Corporate Communications
Media Relations
60547 Frankfurt, Germany
Telephone: +49 69 690-70553
E-mail: t.beckmann@fraport.de
Internet: www.fraport.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport

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