Interim report of Copenhagen Airports A/S (CPH) for the period 1 January – 31 March 2022
Stock Exchange Announcement
Copenhagen, 19 May 2022
The Board of Directors has today approved the interim report for the period 1 January – 31 March 2022.
SUMMARY OF THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2022
Passenger levels reached 3.3 million passengers in Q1 2022 compared with 0.4 million passengers in Q1 2021. The growing number of passengers led to increased revenue from the aeronautical business area (traffic revenue) as well as higher concession revenue from the shopping centre. The comparative period of 2021 was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, and the majority of concessionaires were closed during the early months of 2021. While performance in Q1 2022 have improved compared to same period last year, CPH still operates at a loss and with negative cash flows.
Total revenue for Q1 2022 amounted to DKK 577 million, which was an increase of 205.1% over Q1 2021. Relative to the Q1 2019 pre-COVID-19 period, it reflects a decline of 40.6%.
Popular European travel destinations continue to operate well below 2019 levels. European air traffic was at index 54 in Q1 2022 compared with 2019 levels for the same period.
Long-haul international flights which are integral to CPH’s position as a northern European hub remain at a very low index 34 relative to 2019 levels because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially routes to Asia continue to face challenges due to travel and entry restrictions, reducing passenger numbers considerably.
Higher activity levels require more employees
Copenhagen Airport continues to host one of the largest economic ecosystems in Denmark with approximately 1,000 companies operating in and around the airport. With the increase in passenger levels, CPH is currently recruiting to fill positions especially in the security control area to ensure a continued positive experience for the passengers.
Debt situation
Although passenger levels are slowly starting to increase, CPH has over the past two years had expenditures that far exceeded revenue to keep the airport open regardless of the activity level. With passengers now returning, cash flows are improving. However, CPH still had negative cash flows before financing activities for Q1 2022.
The cash flow before financing activities for Q1 2022 was an outflow of DKK 115 million, which although being an improvement compared with Q1 2021 when the cash outflow before financing activities amounted to DKK 485 million, still added to the debt accumulation. The increased debt position is a challenge to CPH’s ambition to invest in the development of the sustainable airport of the future and to maintain CPH’s position as a northern European hub for air traffic.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The number of passengers at Copenhagen Airports was 3.3 million in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 2.8 million compared with Q1 2021. Traffic was positively affected by the lifting of travel restrictions and the fact that several countries have reopened their borders to international travel. The number of locally departing passengers was 1.3 million (615.0% higher than last year), while transfer and transit passengers numbered 0.3 million (850.8% higher than last year).
- Revenue amounted to DKK 577 million (Q1 2021: DKK 189 million), an increase of 205.1% compared with Q1 2021 driven by higher passenger numbers.
- EBITDA was a profit of DKK 109 million (Q1 2021: loss of DKK 153 million), up DKK 262 million from last year.
- EBIT was a loss of DKK 134 million (Q1 2021: loss of DKK 404 million), corresponding to an improvement of DKK 270 million.
- Net financing costs amounted to DKK 37 million, which was DKK 6 million higher than for the same period of 2021.
- Profit/(loss) before tax amounted to a loss of DKK 171 million, corresponding to an increase of DKK 265 million (Q1 2021: loss of DKK 436 million).
- Capital investments amounted to DKK 250 million in the first quarter of 2022 (2021: DKK 138 million). Investments included the expansion of Terminal 3, the construction of a multi-storey car park, various IT systems, as well as miscellaneous improvement and maintenance work.
OUTLOOK FOR 2022
Whilst the passenger volumes for 2022 have had a better start than last year, the global aviation industry continues to face uncertainty from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. CPH expects that the pandemic will continue to affect the number of flights and passengers, both in terms of leisure and business travelers, throughout 2022. Uncertainty for travelers and continued waves of infection may result in renewed disruption of travel patterns. Currently, we are unable to predict if and how the pandemic will affect aviation during the fall/winter 2022.
The war in Ukraine, combined with raising inflation, increased fuel, and energy prices have brought added uncertainty to the future travel patterns.
Regardless of the above-mentioned uncertainties, European air traffic is anticipated to improve in 2022 compared with 2021. The long-haul international routes, however, continue to be severely affected by restrictions and passenger hesitation although countries are slowly reopening. Despite the current uncertainties, an improvement in year-over-year results is expected for CPH, but we are not in a position to provide detailed guidance on CPH’s financial performance for 2022.
CPH will monitor the situation closely and will continuously assess and adjust the level of operating costs and investments. CPH will update the financial market as and when a more precise financial outlook can be provided.
P.O. Box 74
Lufthavnsboulevarden 6
2770 Kastrup, Denmark
Contact:
Rasmus Lund
CFO
Tel.: +45 3231 3231
E-mail: cphweb@cph.dk
www.cph.dk
CVR no. 14 70 72 04
Attachment
