Fraport Stock Up On H1 Profit, Upbeat FY23 Earnings View

(RTTNews) - Shares of Fraport Group were gaining around 8 percent in the morning trading in Germany after the airport operator reported Tuesday a profit in its first half, compared to last year's loss, with strong passenger demand. The company further said it now expects to meet the upper half of its earnings projection range for fiscal 2023.

Stefan Schulte, CEO of Fraport AG, said, "In the second quarter of 2023, the positive performance continued from the start of the year. We are seeing sustained recovery in passenger demand across our portfolio of global airports. At our home base in Frankfurt, passenger numbers recovered to 80 percent of pre-crisis levels in the first half of 2023. We expect passenger traffic to further grow at Frankfurt Airport during the full year - including a rise in the share of business travelers."

Schulte further said the company's leisure-dominated Group airports worldwide, mainly the Greek airports, have benefited most from the ongoing strong demand for holiday travel.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2023, Group result is now expected in the upper half of the projected range of between some 300 million euros and 420 million euros.

For the Group EBITDA, Fraport now expects to reach the upper half of the previously projected range of between about 1.04 billion and 1.20 billion.

Passenger numbers in Frankfurt are now expected to reach the middle range of the previously given projection of between at least 80 percent and up to 90 percent of traffic levels seen in 2019, when some 70.6 million passengers traveled through Germany's largest aviation hub.

For the first half, Group net profit was 85.0 million euros, compared to last year's loss of 53.1 million euros that was due to a one-off effect.

Earnings per share were 0.87 euro, compared to loss of 0.53 euro a year ago.

Operating profit or EBIT increased 35.2 percent year-on-year to 245.9 million euros. The operating result or EBITDA reached 481.4 million euros, up 17.9 percent.

Group revenue rose 33.8 percent year-on-year to 1.80 billion euros driven by higher passenger volumes. Applying the IFRIC 12 adjustment, Group revenue increased 27.8 percent year-on-year to 1.55 billion euros.

Passenger numbers at Frankfurt Airport or FRA surged 29.1 percent year-on-year to 26.9 million in the first six months.

In the first half, European traffic benefited from strong demand for leisure travel to warm-weather destinations. There was also gradual improvement in business travel within Europe, particularly to and from West Europe's financial hubs.

Intercontinental traffic as well as traffic to and from North America also recorded strong passenger volumes. Meanwhile, traffic to and from China continued to lag behind the general trend, reaching only about a third of the 2019 level.

Fraport recorded double-digit growth rates at many Group airports worldwide.

Among Fraport's international portfolio of airports, the 14 Greek regional airports' accumulated passenger numbers surpassed the pre-crisis levels from 2019 by as much as 7.8 percent. Antalya Airport on the Turkish Mediterranean coast recorded a 96.2 percent recovery rate, followed by Peru's Lima Airport achieving a recovery rate of 85.4 percent.

In Germany, Fraport shares were trading at 49.12 euros, up 7.86 percent.

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