Aena’s revenues up 16% to €4,329m in September, 127% above 2019 figure

AenaBarcelona airport, Spain

Intermoney | Aena (Buy, PO €215) has announced its 9m 24 results, and will hold a conference call today at 1pm. The figures, along with our estimates, are shown in the attached table. Based on September traffic levels that were well above pre-pandemic records (107% in Spain), Aena generated 9m EBITDA of €2,663m, or 125% of the 2019 figure, slightly above IMVe (€2,646m). We confirm our estimates, which we clearly raised (+10% EBITDA) in our note of 15 July.

By business, Aeronautics (EBITDA at 100% pre-pandemic vs. 102% IMV) reflected a certain decline in costs per passenger in Q3 of 4% to €3.9 vs. €4.1 IMV. The Commercial division (up 142% vs. 139% IMV) confirmed its good momentum through average revenue growth. International (219% to €249m) consolidated all the businesses in Brazil and clearly outperformed IMV (€220m). Net profit to September, €1,450m (€1,466m IMV), also exceeded the pre-pandemic level of €1,114m in 2019.

1730279298012572953992782989503

This was partly the result of:

Strong year-on-year increase in traffic during the last Q3 in Spain (up 8%), clearly exceeding pre-pandemic levels (up 13%), which allowed the aeronautical activity to grow its turnover by 15%, slightly below IMV (up 9% compared to 2019). Average revenue, by regulation and mix, increased by 4% to €10.2, confirming a certain acceleration compared to past quarters (€10.4 IMV).

Good news also in the commercial division, where revenues per passenger continued their excellent trend, reaching €5.56 at September, up 6% compared to 9m 23 and exceeding €4.46 at 9m 19, leading to 9m revenues of €1,323 million against€1,320 million IMV.

EBITDA of €2,663m at 9m 24 (€2,646m IMVe), 125% pre-pandemic, with greater cost stability. Aena generated an EBITDA to September of €2,663 million, representing 124% of the pre-pandemic figure, or +26% higher than last year’s figure, remaining slightly above our forecast of €2,646 million. Highlights:

Aeronautica’s operating leverage tends to work in its favour in Q3, unlike in Q1. A demanding comparison with Q23 saw operating costs down 4% from Q3 23 to €3.9/passenger (€4.1 IMV), leading to business EBITDA at September of €1.247 billion (€1.275 billion IMV), which was almost exactly at pre-pandemic levels.

Good results again in Retail, whose reported EBITDA of €1,102 million (€1,085 million IMV) was 42% higher than pre-pandemic, a direct consequence of the growth in revenues. The margin was almost 300 b.p. higher than in 9M 23 to almost 83%, although in Q3 they remained unchanged. In International, the contribution of all the assets in Brazil since January drove EBITDA up 67% to €249 million, compared to €220 million IMV, with this business being the biggest difference compared to our forecasts.

Net profit of €1.45 billion (+u 27%), also above pre-pandemic. Below EBITDA there were no surprises, apart from negative items due to financial adjustments of €20 million that we had not considered, and including financials of -€103 million, leading Aena to a net profit of €1,450 million, higher than the €1,114 million pre-pandemic, and compared to €1,446 million IMV.

About the Author

The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.