Fraport has reported that in the 2018 fiscal year ending 31 December it continued on its growth path – achieving new records in revenue and earnings.
The company said supported by strong passenger growth at its Frankfurt Airport home base and its group airports worldwide, revenue climbed by 18.5 per cent to nearly €3.5 billion. After adjusting for revenue related to capital expenditure for expansion measures at the international group companies (based on IFRIC 12), revenue rose 7.8 per cent to over €3.1 billion.
The operating result (group EBITDA) climbed markedly by 12.5 per cent to over €1.1 billion. The group result (net profit) rose even stronger, by 40 per cent to €505.7 million. This includes earnings gained from the sale of Fraport’s stake in Hanover Airport, which contributed €75.9 million.
About two-thirds of this increase can be attributed to Fraport’s international portfolio – with the airports in Brazil and Greece, in particular, making a significant contribution.
In 2018, based on its cargo throughput (air freight and airmail) of 2.2 million metric tons, Frankfurt was Europe’s largest airport ahead of Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol.
Last year, cargo volume fell slightly below the previous year’s volume by 0.8 per cent which Fraport said was in line with economic development.
Fraport added that over the course of 2018, the global economy increasingly deteriorated, and problems in automobile manufacturing negatively impacted the German export-oriented industry in the second half of the year. While the cargo volume still stagnated in the first half of 2018, it declined in the second half of the year by 1.4 per cent.
Fraport executive board chairman, Stefan Schulte said: “We are pleased to look back on another very successful year, especially for our Group airports around the world. Here in Frankfurt, however, 2018 presented challenges due to the constraints in European airspace and the strong traffic demand.
“For the medium and long term, we are very well positioned both at Frankfurt Airport and in our international business. Moreover, we are laying the foundations for further long-term growth by implementing our expansion projects.”
