Schiphol Group announces 2004 interim results (NL)

Schiphol Group’s result after taxation increased by 11.4% from €68.8 million to €76.7 million in the first half of 2004. The strong recovery in traffic and transport volumes and, stringent cost control on the one hand and lower unrealised capital gains on investment property on the other (€1.8 million compared with €17.5 million in the corresponding period of 2003), produced a virtually stable operating result.

The improved result after taxation was mainly due to a non-recurring increase of €8.9 million from financing activities.

Operating income
Operating income rose by €24.7 million (6.2%) to €425.7 million. Revenues from airport fees were up 18.1% at €246.1 million. This was partly due to increased passenger volume (8.4%) and air transport movements (2.2%) as well as an increase in the average take-off weight of aircraft operating at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol from 94.2 to 96.9 tonnes. These volume factors lifted income derived from airport fees by €8.0 million. Take-off and landing fees were increased by 2.8% on 1 April 2004. Passenger-related charges rose by 6%. These price increases produced an additional €6.7 million. Revenues from airport fees also rose by €17.4 million due to the transfer of the execution of preventive security duties in the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol terminal from the government to Schiphol Group on 1 April 2003. To cover the cost of carrying out these security duties, a virtually cost-neutral airport security charge is levied, which produced three months’ extra revenues in the first half of 2004 compared with the same period in the preceding year.

The higher traffic and transport volumes at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol should be seen against the background of the depressed state of global aviation in the first half of 2003, owing to the economic slowdown, the war in Iraq and the SARS outbreak. Other airport fee revenues rose by €5.6 million.

Income from concessions was up by 4.9% at €55.6 million. Although passenger numbers increased by 8.4%, the average spend per departing passenger on international flights at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol fell from €18.06 to €17.13. Passenger spend in bars and restaurants developed more favourably than that in the airport shops.

Property rental income rose by 4.3% to €52.6 million, partly as a result of an increase in the lettable area following the opening of the new extension to the WTC Schiphol Airport building. The increase was achieved despite the loss of rental income following the sale of investment property to ACRE Fund at the end of 2003. The ACRE Fund properties continued to achieve 100% occupancy levels, whereas occupancy for other properties was down from 96.6% to 86.1%.

Parking fee revenues increased by 10.6% to €32.6 million. This was in line with the growing passenger volumes and the increase in the number of public parking spaces in 2003 to 18,500. Public car park charges were also increased on 1 January 2004.

Unrealised gains and losses on investment property were €15.7 million lower than in the corresponding period of 2003. In that year this item was affected by a number of, partially compensatory, exceptional items of material amount. In the first half of 2004 that was not the case.

Operating expenses
Operating expenses were up by €24.1 million at €295.7 million. The cost of subcontracted work and other external charges rose by €4.9 million to €142.2 million, mainly owing to higher security costs.

Depreciation/amortisation and movements in value rose by €14.4 million to €71.9 million, owing to exceptional write-offs on Zone J (between the A4 motorway and runway 18C-36C) and Beech Avenue (new road from Schiphol South to Schiphol Southeast) totalling €6.2 million and also, among other things, the depreciation on baggage facilities that became operational.

The overall increase in the operating expenses can be explained as follows. There was an increase of €16.6 million in security costs, from €46.1 million to €62.7 million, because, compared with the preceding

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