CPH: Growth continues at Copenhagen Airports

Passenger numbers at Copenhagen Airport increased by 8.2% in the nine months to 30 September 2010 as compared with the same period last year and revenue grew by 11.0%. Profit before tax increased to DKK 792.1 million.

The growth in traffic was driven by a strong 23.1% year-on-year increase in the number of domestic passengers, and the number of international and transfer passengers also showed year-on-year growth, partly as a result of an increase in the number of European as well as intercontinental routes and additional frequencies to a number of European destinations.

“Our growth performance during the first nine months of the year has made Copenhagen Airport one of the highest growing major European airport this year. In particular, recent months growth in transfer traffic to a number of Nordic, northern European and Baltic destinations demonstrates Copenhagen’s role as a major hub for travelers to and from Northern Europe, said Per Madsen, CFO of Copenhagen Airports.

Continuing low-cost growth
Copenhagen Airport has a strategic focus on both network and low-cost carriers, and carriers such as easyJet and especially Norwegian continue to contribute substantially to the growth in passenger numbers. Overall, the number of low-cost passengers was close to 2.9 million in the first nine months of the year, bringing the low-cost market share to 17.8% for the year-to-date period. This is the highest level to date.

“The low-cost carriers continue to focus on Copenhagen Airport, and we still see great interest in our low-cost facility, CPH Go, which will open on 31 October. With CPH Go, Copenhagen Airport will be the only major European Airport that offers lower passenger charges in an integrated part of the airport, said Per Madsen.

The new charges agreement between CPH and a number of airlines was approved in Q3. Under the agreement, all passenger-related charges will be changed to better reflect the underlying costs, and the passenger charge for using CPH Go will be approximately 35% lower than the current passenger charge.

Increased price differentiation at the shopping centre
Revenue at the shopping centre was down 2.1% as compared with the first nine months of last year, partly because a number of contracts were renegotiated. However, the third quarter saw revenue growth partly thanks to a number of new stores such as JOE & THE JUICE, Dixons Travel and the Pandora Concept Store, which have contributed to a generally higher level of activity at the shopping centre in conjunction with the increased passenger numbers.

Sales in the duty and tax free stores increased by 9.4% due to a number of initiatives, such as adjustment of the product range and intensified marketing efforts.

The relaunch of the parking products continued in Q3 in the form of marketing of the new prices and product groups introduced earlier in the year.

Outlook
Based on the anticipated traffic programme for Q4 2010 and the growth in the first nine months of 2010, passenger numbers are revised to increase significantly compared to 2009.

Based on the strong traffic performance and despite the impact of the Icelandic ash cloud the final outlook for 2010 is revised. Profit before tax is now expected to be more than 15 percent higher than in 2009, when excluding one-off items. The revised outlook is based on a continued recovery in the world economy.