Germany’s Fraport sees earnings boost on higher passenger volumes

(Reuters) -Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport on Tuesday updated its 2023 core profit and net income forecasts, after first-half earnings were boosted by higher passenger volumes and strong demand for holiday travel.

The group expects earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to reach the upper half of the previously projected range of 1.04 billion to 1.20 billion euros ($1.14 billion to $1.32 billion) this year.

The German group, which operates 28 airports around the world, also expects net profit to reach the upper half of the projected range of between 300 million and 420 million euros.

“We are seeing sustained recovery in passenger demand across our portfolio of global airports,” CEO Stefan Schulte said in a statement, noting the group expects passenger traffic to further grow at Frankfurt Airport during the full year.

First-half results were boosted by an ongoing recovery in passenger numbers across Fraport’s global airport network, with traffic at its home-base in Frankfurt growing by 29.1% in the first six months of 2023.

Demand for leisure travel, which has driven up ticket prices and boosted profits for airlines and airport operators since pandemic restrictions ended last year, shows little sign of abating despite the squeeze on household incomes from high inflation and rising interest rates.

Fraport’s EBITDA rose 17.9% to 481.4 million euros in the first half of the year, while group revenue increased by 33.8% to 1.8 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9100 euros)

(Reporting by Anna Mackenzie and Paolo Laudani in Gdansk; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Varun H K)