Published on : Wednesday, August 20, 2014
The positive business development of the Flughafen Wien Group continued in the first half of 2014. EBITDA climbed 5.0% to € 126.5 million (H1/2013: € 120.4 million), EBIT rose 6.2% to € 63.1 million (H1/2013: € 59.4 million) and the net profit for the first half-year increased by 7.6% to € 44.0 million (H1/2013: € 40.9 million).
After an extremely mild winter in the first quarter of 2014 and the related decline in revenue from aircraft de-icing services, revenue of Flughafen Wien AG picked up again in the following months to reach € 304.7 million in the first half of 2014 and thus at virtually the same level (-0.1%) as in the previous year. In spite of stagnating revenue, earnings significantly improved as a consequence of cost reductions and enhanced productivity.
Net debt was once again substantially reduced in the second quarter of 2014 to € 585.1 million as at June 30, 2014. Accordingly, net debt at present is already at about 2.5 times EBITDA, and will be lowered even further by the end of the year. This important objective originally targeted for 2016 has already been reached.
The Flughafen Wien Group remains optimistic with respect to prospects for the entire year 2014. Passenger traffic is expected to rise between 1% and 3%, with the increase likely to be at the upper end of the predicted range from today’s perspective. The number of flight movements will remain largely stable between -1% and +1%. Total revenue in 2014 should climb to over € 630 million, whereas EBITDA is anticipated to clearly surpass € 240 million and the Group net profit will be above € 75 million.
“The positive corporate development could be continued in spite of the negative crisis-related effects on global travel”, says Günther Ofner, Chief Financial Officer of Flughafen Wien AG. “Although revenue stagnated, the company generated an improvement in EBITDA, EBIT and net profit. Net debt has further decreased. As a consequence, Flughafen Wien AG is once again on a sounder economic footing, which is also reflected in the share price showing a 127% rise in value since the beginning of 2012. We are confident that we will be able to achieve our designated targets for the entire year 2014”, CFO Ofner adds.
“In spite of international political crises, passenger traffic developed very well in the first half of 2014, rising by 2.9%. This was mainly driven by new flight connections, destinations and frequency increases on flights from Vienna. At the same time, we are successfully implementing our service strategy. Numerous new shops such as Victoria‘s Secret and Philipp Plein were opened at the airport, the Heinemann Duty Free Shop was enlarged and an operating agreement for future new restaurants at Pier West was concluded with
DO & CO. Modernisation work in this terminal area is in full swing and should be completed by the end of the year”, explains Julian Jäger, Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG.
2.9% rise in passenger traffic in H1/2014
Following restrained passenger traffic in the first quarter of 2014, a strong increase in passenger volumes was recorded in the following months. On balance, passenger traffic was up 2.9% to 10,543,235 in the first six months of 2014. The number of local passengers increased by 4.5% in this period, whereas the number of transfer passengers declined slightly by 1.1%, which can be primarily attributed to a 2.7% drop in passenger traffic to Eastern Europe caused mainly by the Ukraine crisis.
In contrast, there was a rise in the number of passengers travelling to Western Europe and North America by 3.9% and 25.2% respectively. Passenger traffic to the Middle East was up 5.2% in H1/2014, while the number of passengers flying to destinations in the Far East rose by 10.4%.
Against the backdrop of this considerable growth in passenger traffic, the number of flight movements fell marginally by 0.3% to 112,461 starts and landings in H1/2014. However, the total maximum take-off weight was up 2.6% to 3,910,328 tonnes, and capacity utilisation of the aircraft improved as reflected in an increased seat load factor of 73.1%. Cargo volume (air cargo and trucking) also rose by 6.4% to 130,795 tonnes.
Revenue development of the segments
In the first six months of 2014, external revenue of the Airport Segment climbed by 4.5% year-on-year to € 163.5 million. The Handling Segment reported an 8.9% drop in external revenue to € 72.2 million due to the mild winter and the resulting decline in income from aircraft de-icing services. The Retail & Properties Segment generated a 1.1% revenue rise to € 61.3 million. External revenue of the Segment Other Segments fell by 9.9% to € 7.7 million.
Capital expenditure
The total investments of € 31.0 million in the first half of 2014 included € 8.3 million for construction of a new maintenance hangar, € 3.4 million for technical noise protection and
€ 2.0 million for modernisation work at Pier West. Capital expenditure is expected to amount to € 110 million in the entire 2014 financial year.
Traffic development in July 2014: passenger increase of 2.3%
In July 2014 the number of passengers handled by Vienna Airport was up 2.3% in a year-on-year comparison to 2,214,208 people. Total flight movements climbed by 1.1%, whereas growth was also recorded for the maximum take-off weight (+5.4%) and cargo volume (+10.3%).
The number of transfer passengers at Vienna Airport fell by 5.4% from the prior-year level. One major factor underlying this development was the passenger decline to Eastern European destinations as a consequence of the crisis situation in the Ukraine. The number of local passengers rose by 5.6% in the same period, which largely compensated for the crisis-related drop in transfer passenger traffic.
The number of passengers departing for Western Europe in July 2014 was up 1.9%, in contrast to the 4.9% decrease in passengers travelling to Eastern Europe. The Middle East reported a 2.0% drop in July 2014, whereas passenger traffic to the Far East was up 26.5%. Passenger volumes to North America rose sharply, climbing by 30.2% compared to July 2013. This development is mainly due to the launch of flight service to Newark, USA by Austrian Airlines and the increase in the frequency of its flights to Chicago.
Source:- Vienna International Airport
Tags: Vienna International Airport
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