February 14, 2008
Amsterdam airport operator Schiphol Group reported a 17.7 percent rise in 2007 net profit excluding exceptional items and property gains on Thursday, but said a flight tax would hurt its results in 2008.
The group said in a statement net profit rose to EUR233 million euros (USD$339 million) from EUR198 million in 2006. Including a one-off fiscal gain in 2006 and gains on its property portfolio, net profit fell 40.1 percent to EUR316 million.
Turnover rose 10.6 percent to EUR1.146 billion, while the Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven airports that the group runs saw a 4.4 percent increase in passengers to 50.4 million.
The Dutch government, which owns 75.8 percent of the group, abandoned plans to privatize the company last year after the city of Amsterdam, which owns a 21.8 percent stake, blocked the sale of a minority stake through an initial public offering.
The group’s head Gerlach Cerfontaine said he was satisfied with strong performance at its retail and real estate businesses in 2007, but said he was less optimistic for this year.
“Due to the introduction of the flight tax on July 1, 2008, there will be little or no increase in passenger numbers and air transport movements, causing our net result to decrease,” he said.
However, the airport expects cargo transport to increase by 4 percent in 2008 to 1.67 million tonnes.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol is the fourth-largest passenger airport in Europe and the third-largest in freight volume.
The Schiphol Group also holds stakes in Brisbane airport and in Terminal 4 of New York’s John F Kennedy airport.
(Reuters)