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Fraport H1 profit slips 1.7pc to US$419.5 million as sales fall 1.4pc

FRANKFURT's airport corporation Fraport Group first half pretax profit declined 1.7 per cent year on year to EUR€378.4 million (US$419.5 million), drawn on revenues of EUR€1.2 billion, a decline of 1.4 per cent.

During 2015, Fraport sold 51 per cent of its capital shares in the FCS Frankfurt Cargo Services subsidiary and also made a full disposal of Air-Transport IT Services, both formerly wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Fraport's home-base Frankfurt Airport (FRA) enjoyed a 0.4 per cent rise in air cargo to one million tonnes. Aircraft movements decreased by one per cent to 227,000 takeoffs and landings, reflecting the trend towards larger aircraft.

But Hanover Airport (HAJ) in northern Germany posted a 0.7 per cent decline in traffic to 2.4 million passengers (in June 2016, down 2.9 per cent to 521,676 passengers).

Outside Frankfurt, the group's subsidiaries, Lima Airport Partners, Twin Star and AMU Holdings, contributed to revenue growth.

As did China's Xi'an Airport, growing 11.3 per cent to 17.5 million passengers in the first half (in June 2016, up 10.8 per cent to 2.9 million passengers).

But declining passenger volumes at Frankfurt Airport contributed to negative effects on revenue.

"With air traffic being negatively impacted by geopolitical circumstances, several of our group airports experienced significant traffic declines," said Fraport chairman Stefan Schulte.

"Also taking into account the expected positive effects resulting from the sale of a partial stake in St Petersburg, we are maintaining our outlook for the group's asset, financial, and earnings position for the 2016 business year, despite the challenging environment."

Fraport portfolio reported mixed Ldjubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia welcomed 598,271 passengers in the January-to-June period, a 4.5 per cent year on year decline.

But Lima Airport (LIM) traffic soared 11 per cent to 8.9 million passengers (in June 2016, up 13 per cent to 1.5 million passengers).

The two Twin Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast also reported significant traffic growth: combined, the two airports welcomed 1.2 million passengers, up 24.8 per cent year on year (in June 2016, up 23.4 per cent to 779,938 passengers).

Passenger numbers at Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey continued to decline. In the first half of year, traffic at AYT contracted 30.5 per cent to 7.3 million passengers (in June 2016, down 47.1 per cent to 1.9 million passengers).

Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St Petersburg experienced a noticeable slowdown with traffic dropping 6.5 per cent to 5.7 million passengers (in June 2016, down 7.6 per cent to 1.4 million passengers).