French airport group ADP Q1 revenue beats forecasts as global air traffic recovers

French airport group ADP Q1 revenue beats forecasts as global air traffic recovers

By Federica Mileo

(Reuters) -French airport group ADP on Wednesday beat estimates for its first-quarter revenue, as it benfited from a global recovery in air travel despite strike-related disruptions in France.

ADP, operator of the French capital’s Orly and Roissy Charles de Gaulle airports, posted first-quarter revenue of 1.19 billion euros ($1.32 billion), just above the 1.14 billion euros forecast by analysts polled by the company.

Airlines and airport operators are benefiting from a strong traffic recovery and rising travel demand, despite high inflation and an uncertain economic outlook.

“We are preparing for a strong traffic this summer,” Finance Chief Philippe Pascal said in a call.

Earlier this month, ADP estimated it lost around 470,000 passengers in the January to March period due to the strikes against French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform.

“We clearly see a very strong dynamic with traffic almost fully recovered against 2019 levels,” Pascal said.

However, he pointed to a lower recovery of traffic in Paris, mainly reflecting the impact of strikes but also the closure of several domestic routes compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The group expects a progressive recovery in traffic with Asia in 2023, mostly in the second half of the year, while it estimates a full recovery in 2025.

“It is difficult to say now, France is still in negotiations with the Chinese government,” Pascal said, referring to the recovery of Asian traffic.

The group said it expects the impact of wage inflation to be around 20 million euros in 2023, taking into account 6% inflation.

($1 = 0.9046 euro)

(Reporting by Federica Mileo in Gdansk, Editing by William Maclean, David Gregorio and Jonathan Oatis)