Annual General Meeting: Fraport Achieves Record Result for the 2016 Business Year, Despite Challenging Environment

Frankfurt (ots) - Growth momentum stimulated by expansion of the
Group's international portfolio - FRA's core hub-business to be
complemented by growing low-cost segment - Dividend proposed to
increase to EUR1.50 per share

At the 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held today at the
Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt, Fraport AG's executive board chairman
(CEO), Dr. Stefan Schulte and the company's shareholders looked back
on a volatile 2016 business year. The traffic slowdown during the
summer months at the Group's Frankfurt Airport home base could not be
entirely offset by strong passenger figures at the beginning of 2016
and towards the end of the year.

CEO Schulte explained: "The geopolitical situation and terror
risks in Europe were decisive factors contributing to fewer
passengers, particularly from Asia and the U.S. Moreover, Frankfurt
Airport's passenger traffic was also impacted by the strong growth of
low-cost carriers, especially at those airports within our catchment
area. We have initiated the necessary response to this development
by opening up Frankfurt Airport to the low-cost segment.
Nevertheless, our core business continues be the premium hub segment
and our partnership with Lufthansa as our main customer."

In 2016, passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) dipped
slightly by 0.4 percent to 60.79 million passengers, thus lagging
behind the general market trend - which was characterized by an
increasing impact of the low-cost segment. In contrast, FRA's cargo
volume rose by 1.8 percent to some 2.11 million metric tons in 2016.

Fraport AG's operating result or EBITDA (earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization) markedly improved by 24.2
percent to EUR1,054 million in fiscal 2016, despite slightly
declining passenger traffic and the weaker retail business at FRA.
The strong result was driven by a compensation payment received in
connection with the Manila terminal project and the successful
partial sale of Fraport's stake in its St. Petersburg subsidiary.
Looking at the bottom line, Fraport achieved a Group result (net
profit) of EUR400 million.

Commenting on the company's positive performance, CEO Schulte
said: "This is the best result ever achieved by Fraport. We would
like to share this success with our shareholders and therefore
propose a dividend increase to EUR1.50 per share." In 2016, Fraport
AG paid a dividend of EUR1.35 per share.

To maintain Fraport's future competitiveness in the challenging
business environment, CEO Schulte emphasized that market changes
needed to be taken seriously and addressed properly: "Customers today
expect low-cost flight offers. The low-cost segment already accounts
for more than 40 percent of Europe's continental air traffic.
Moreover, we have been losing significant traffic share to
neighboring competitor airports offering low-cost airline services.
Hence, a major aviation gateway like Frankfurt cannot continue to
ignore this market trend over the long run."

To meet the expected passenger growth, Fraport is currently
assessing the option to move up construction of Pier G, which was
already included in the respective zoning approval for the future
Terminal 3 project. Featuring a capacity of four to six million
passengers, Pier G would be tailored specifically to meet the
requirements of low-cost traffic, while being able to accommodate
transfer traffic - thus remaining in line with the zoning
specifications for the new passenger terminal. Fraport expects the
investment volume for building the new pier to range between about
EUR100 million and EUR200 million.

At the same time, Fraport will be pushing forward the planned
investments for further strengthening its core hub product at FRA.
In this context, Schulte referred to the future Terminal 3 as the
most important project. With the new terminal, Fraport intends to
offer a premium product with a clear focus on transfer traffic and
network carriers. Fraport is also making additional investments at
FRA's two existing terminals to further enhance the passenger
experience and increase customer satisfaction, as well as to expand
the airport's service package. Examples include the new station for
the Sky Line people-mover at Concourse C of Terminal 1, and the new
MY CLOUD transit hotel and a second Fraport VIP Lounge.

CEO Schulte described Fraport's international portfolio of
airports as a growing business segment that strongly contributes to
the Group's revenue: "Our broadly diversified international portfolio
enables us to counterbalance downturns in individual markets, for
example in Turkey, by positive growth in other regions. We will
continue to consistently pursue this successful risk-diversification
strategy."

Currently, Fraport's External Activities & Services business
segment already generates more than 20 percent of the company's
revenue and over one third of the Group result (net profit). In
fiscal 2016, the business segment's contribution even reached about
60 percent, due to special effects resulting from the Manila project
and the St. Petersburg subsidiary. Fraport is further expanding its
international activities with the recent successful launch of the
concession for managing 14 Greek regional airports, as well as the
expected operational takeover of two airports in Brazil.

Schulte confirmed the outlook for the current 2017 business year.
Fraport expects passenger traffic to grow by two to four percent,
while revenue is forecast to rise up to EUR2.9 billion. The Group
result (net profit) is expected to reach a range between EUR310
million and EUR350 million - a significant increase compared to the
adjusted Group result of almost EUR300 million achieved in the
completed 2016 business year.

For further information about Fraport AG please click here:
http://ots.de/OlNxn

Contact:
Fraport AG
Torben Beckmann
Deputy Head of Press Office
Spokesperson for Business & Finance
60547 Frankfurt, Germany
Phone: +49 69 690 -70553
E-mail: t.beckmann@fraport.de
Internet: www.fraport.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport

Original-Content von: Fraport AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell