Airport operator Fraport has concluded the 2023 fiscal year that ended on December 31 with record highs for its revenue and operating result (or EBITDA).
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The driver was a continued recovery in passenger numbers particularly at the Fraport Group’s airports outside Germany. Buoyed by this trend, the Group result (or net profit) increased to €430.5 million.
Rising passenger volumes boosted the annual Group revenue by 25.2 percent to a new record figure of €4.00 billion (2022: €3.19 billion).
Adjusting for revenues resulting from construction and expansion measures at Fraport’s international subsidiaries (in line with IFRIC 12), revenue increased by 21.7 percent to €3.49 billion.
The operating result or Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) also rose to a new record level, at €1.20 billion.
This represented an increase of 16.9 percent year-on-year (2022: €1.03 billion). The Group result (or net profit) jumped substantially, to €430.5 million (2022: €166.6 million).
The increase in the operating result saw the ratio of net debt to EBITDA improve to 6.4 (from 6.9 in 2022).
Given the Group’s continued high debt levels and ongoing investments in capacity expansions, no dividend payment is planned for the 2023 fiscal year.
In 2023, passenger numbers continued to rise at most of Fraport’s global Group airports.
In Frankfurt in addition to the continuing very high numbers of leisure travelers demand for business travel also increased gradually over the course of the year.
Fraport welcomed a total of 59.4 million passengers at its FRA home-base in 2023.
This was an increase of 21.3 percent over 2022 figures (but still 15.9 percent below the pre-pandemic 2019 levels). Fraport’s subsidiary airports outside Germany grew even stronger. The Greek gateways were particular standouts, recording growth of 11.8 percent over 2019 levels and thereby clearly exceeding pre-crisis numbers.
Antalya Airport on the Turkish Riviera also achieved a new record, with an increase to 35.7 million passengers.
By contrast, cargo volumes in Frankfurt declined by 3.9 percent year-on-year to around 1.9 million metric tons during 2023. Causes included general market-based factors, such as restrictions in European airspace and weak economic growth resulting from the global geopolitical situation.
Despite this difficult market situation, Frankfurt Airport was still able to hold its own against its competitors and remain Europe’s biggest and most attractive cargo airport. ■