Early retail renovation hits Copenhagen Airports profits

Gavin Lipsith

Print Article E-Mail Article E-Mail Author

Copenhagen Airports owner Macquarie Airports has downgraded full-year profit expectations at Copenhagen Kastrup, citing its decision to push ahead with its retail revamp ahead of schedule

Macquarie Airports has revealed that it expects profit at Copenhagen Kastrup to remain flat this year, with the early retail renovation affecting earnings for the period. Macquarie had originally anticipated profit growth of 5-20% for the year, but has downgraded expectations to the DKr1.03bn ($109.4m) achieved in 2006.

Macquarie Airports CEO Kerrie Mather said results were affected by a five-day SAS cabin crew strike, and the decision to accelerate work on the new central security checkpoint and walk-through duty-free store, which significantly affected retail sales. The new walk-through store is operated by Gebr Heinemann, which ousted The Nuance Group from the location earlier this year.

Mather added: “Copenhagen Airports has delivered growth in underlying EBITDA and a substantial efficiency improvement. Rental income and sales of services continued to perform well. Whilst aeronautical revenue was impacted by the SAS strike, origin and destination traffic growth remained solid, up 6.4% in the first half of 2007.”