Global Airport News
Fraport expects 2009 operating profit to fall by as much as 15 percent from a year earlier, the company said on Tuesday after reporting first-quarter results that were in line with expectations.
Full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) would slump to between 500 million euros ($680 million) and 530 million euros this year as demand for air travel dropped amid the global economic crisis.
In the first quarter, the German airport operator's EBITDA fell 15.6 percent to 99.8 million euros.
Fraport has already said it expects full-year 2009 earnings and sales to decline as the global economic crisis continues to stunt business travel and consumer spending.
At its main airport in Frankfurt, passenger volume would shrink by 6-9 percent this year, Fraport said. The recent outbreak of swine flu could further weigh on demand, it said.
Fraport stock trades at 20.2 times 12-month forward earnings, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine, which weights analysts' forecasts according to their track record.
That is a discount to rivals such as Ferrovial, which trades at 38.1 times its forward earnings, as a capacity bottleneck at Frankfurt airport is expected to limit Fraport's growth prospects until the end of 2011.
