(Reuters) -Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport reported a 22.6% rise in its third-quarter core earnings on Tuesday, beating market expectations largely due to an around 50-million-euro reduction in
Fraport Exceeds Q3 Earnings Expectations, Lowers Passenger Forecast
By Amir Orusov and Emanuele Berro
(Reuters) -Fraport topped market expectations for third-quarter core earnings on Tuesday, sending its shares rising, even as it trimmed the 2025 estimate for Frankfurt Airport passenger numbers.
The airport operator's positive results followed quarterly earnings beats from European peers APD in France and Aena in Spain.
Fraport's quarterly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were 593.1 million euros ($691.7 million), well above analysts' consensus of 533 million euros, as cited by Jefferies ahead of the report.
That was supported by a 50-million-euro reduction in personnel costs due to a one-off refund of contributions under its pension plan.
Fraport said it expected 63 million passengers to fly via Frankfurt in 2025, down by 1 million compared to the previous forecast. It confirmed financial targets for the year, including for a stable net result at the most.
"We now believe there is a good chance the company will exceed this guidance on the back of the good Q3 numbers," mwb Research analyst Oliver Wojahn said.
Shares of Fraport rose 10.2% by 0917 GMT and could see their biggest one-day rise since November 2020 if the gains hold.
REGULATORY COSTS HAMPER TRAFFIC RECOVERY
Passenger numbers at Frankfurt Airport, Germany's busiest international hub, remained significantly below pre-COVID levels, reaching 87.8% of the volumes seen in the first nine months of 2019, Fraport said in the earnings statement.
It cited "excessively high" regulatory costs, aviation security and air traffic control charges for this underperformance.
In contrast, passenger numbers for the whole group returned to pre-pandemic levels for the first time, with airports it operates in Greece, Peru and Antalya, Turkey well above 2019 volumes, Fraport said.
The company is increasingly relying on airports it manages outside of Germany for revenue due to weak passenger numbers at domestic airports.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Amir Orusov and Emanuele Berro in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
