Flughafen Wien Aktiengesellschaft (FLU) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[audio gap] Gave also an outlook for 2026. So if we go to the first slide, you see the headlines. We had a rise in our revenue of 7.2%, which reflects a very good business performance. And in all divisions and in all our daughter companies, we had positive contributions to earnings. Saying that, we have to remind you that the project of the third runway was abandoned. And out of that, we have roughly EUR 55.9 million of assets that are now removed from our balance sheet. And therefore, net income, EBITDA are negatively affected. So net income is down from EUR 239 million to EUR 210 million. And as you can see in these figures, it was possible by a better operating performance to offset half of this negative effect. So it was only relative to the expectation, EUR 26 million that are now offset and EUR 29 million that came through to the net income. As the recognition of assets, these are one-off effect and has no cash impact, we decided to keep the dividend stable. And the proposal is to pay EUR 1.65, as it was the case in 2024. That equals a payout ratio of 75%, which is above our dividend guidance so far, but I think is justified given that we had a very good development of the business overall. If we go more into the details, you see that the financial result was again positive in 2025. We had less as it was in '24, so from EUR 15.5 million to EUR 11.1 million. This is reflecting the effect of lower interest rates. And we foresee that our net cash position will be substantially reduced in 2026 as we have a new record high in regard of CapEx and investments of EUR 330 million. What is interesting is that we see a growing contribution of Malta Airport to our group net profit. So roughly one-fourth in million, EUR 49.8 million are coming already from Malta operation. If we look at the development of our costs, you see that consumables and services used, especially energy was more or less flat compared '24 to '25. Personnel expenses unfortunately went up around 12%, including Gate 2, which was now only included in an equity consolidation instead of full consolidation. So if we add that, it's a little bit more than 12%. Other operating expenses are up slightly plus the EUR 55.9 million due to the third runway cancellation. They are included in other operating expenses. Clearly, EBITDA margin is down from 42% to 36.5% and also EBIT margin is down from 29.1% to 24.8%. So if we move on, you see that the development of our cash flow from operating activities was down roughly EUR 110 million. On the other side, free cash flow is up at EUR 45 million. And CapEx was EUR 281 million compared to EUR 189 million last year. So we have been able to increase by roughly EUR 100 million. And net liquidity is reduced from EUR 511 million to EUR 413 million due to our payout of the dividend and also the investments. Equity is up to EUR 1,626 million and equity ratio is slightly up at 71.6%. One of the reasons why our operating cash flow is reduced is that we have had a higher payout for taxes. and this will continue also in 2026. And that's due to the fact that we had lower prepayments in the COVID period. And now we have to fill this gap with cash payout for taxes in Malta and in Vienna. As I already mentioned, dividend yield of 3%, payout ratio of 75% and a stable dividend, and it's in line with our general attempt to have a sustainable dividend policy and let's hope that we can fulfill this promise also in the next 2 years. So maybe more important for you is the outlook for 2026. Clearly, we have to digest the revenue reduction of 4.6% and also the anticipated passenger decline in Vienna. On the other hand, we see good growth both in Kosice and in Malta. So for the group, a major part of the expected decline in Vienna will be offset by new destinations or by growth in Malta and Kosice. So how is it possible to guide a stable net income of EUR 210 million and after minorities of EUR 185 million. The reason for that is that we decided a company-wide cost optimization program and cost reduction program. And with that program, we have more or less offset the effects of the lower revenues we expect for 2026. So hopefully, we can realize all the cost-cutting measures. And if we do so, we will end up most likely more or less where we ended up in 2025. So summing up our financial guidance for 2026, we expect revenue at approximately EUR 1.50 million, EBITDA approximately EUR 415 million. Group net profit EUR 210 million, group net profit after minorities EUR 185 million and CapEx around EUR 330 million. EUR 330 million includes also Malta. So the best guess is that we will have EUR 65 million investment in Malta and EUR 265 million here in Vienna. What are we doing with the EUR 330 million South extension, it is in time, in budget, and it will most likely be opened as expected in the second quarter of 2027. We had the groundbreaking for our new office park and the work has already started there. The new building should be finalized end of 2027 and should start operation beginning of '28. We built the central logistics center and there are many other projects on the way, especially after the South extension, the extension of Pier North with additional gate positions. And in Malta, there is terminal expansion and modernization of the runway and also a new business park and a new car park. That all sums up to roughly EUR 330 million in 2026. Our airport city is developing very, very well. We have increased our leased space in the last 10 years by 100%. So from 100,000 square meters to 200,000 square meters. And we have around 20 new companies who settled in 2025 at the airport. And one specific initiative is our Space hub. It is developing very well in cooperation with the European Space Agency. And additional to the 3 companies that are already operative and are growing very fastly, 5 new space companies will come to the airport in the coming weeks. And the first satellite built by GATE Space will be sent to the orbit throughout this year. And very important innovations are underway from these companies. So not only the new turbo for satellites, [indiscernible] motor, but also the possibility to retank satellites. So GATE Space is working on the project to refill the energy for satellites who run out of their fuel. which is a very, very attractive and productive business case because the costs of refueling satellite are several percent compared with bringing it down and send up a new satellite. Our development Zone West is also a very huge project with 47 hectares of additional space for especially logistic facilities. And hopefully, we can start throughout the year. And there is very, very high interest for a lot of companies to come to the airport, and we will be able to fill it very, very quickly. So altogether, and also our new hotel is opening in the next weeks. It's ready. It just waits for the start of the operator. And altogether, we see that the business there will be very attractive. Aviation still is a growth factor in the growth sector. On the other hand, European regulation is very substantially hindering equal growth in Europe compared to other parts of the world. So we think it is very, very essential to change the current regulation in the review process that is planned for 2027. So especially the Green Deal, I think, has been so far a failure. No other region in the world has followed Europe's approach. And the hubs outside the European Union are growing and Europe is more or less stagnating. And therefore, I think the regulation has to be substantially changed and also the attitude towards the aviation sector of the European Commission has to be changed. And hopefully, the discussion will bring some progress there, especially the sustainable aviation fuel regulation is counterproductive. It's too little, it's too costly. And there is no major investment to provide for the necessary amount of subs that would be needed under the current regulation starting from 2030 on. So there is a lot of work to be done there. And hopefully, the decision-makers join those ideas that will bring additional growth for Europe. So that's from my side, and I hand over to you, Julian.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, before I start with the current -- with the segment report, just a few words regarding the current situation. Right now, we have roughly 5,000 passengers which are on a daily basis, affected by the cancellations due to the closures of several airports in the Middle East region. Over the weekend, there were 9,000 passengers affected, 43 cancellations and roughly 5,000 more passengers will be affected now day by day. We've got a couple of aircraft parked here in Vienna right now. But essentially, the only thing we can do is to wait and see how this conflict will play out. So far, we are hopeful that the military actions will not take longer than a couple of days or weeks. Therefore, we have not changed yet our passenger forecast of roughly 30 million passengers. Overall, last year, the Middle East was 5.7% of our overall passenger numbers. This year, we expected it to be roughly 6% of the overall passenger numbers. But as we said, so we think that right now, it's too early to jump to any conclusions. Looking at last year results, I think you know already record passenger numbers in all 3 airports in our small group, excellent quality performance in Vienna and throughout the group. And we are looking forward to open in the second quarter of next year, our South expansion of Terminal 3. So those are the highlights for this year. Let's go to the Airport segment. Overall, good results in 2025, given the situation that this was the segment which was hit by the derecognition of assets due to the third runway or the cancellation of the third runway project. So overall, revenue plus 6%, EBIT minus 24%. But if you adjust it for the derecognition of assets, the Airport segment delivers the highest EBITDA contribution in our group at 48%. This year, obviously, the segment will be hit quite hard by the reduction in passenger numbers and the reduction in passenger and landing fees. So overall, we expect this year, obviously, yes, some changes in this segment. Let's come to quality. We are very happy that we have been announced just a couple of days ago by ACI again as best airport departures in the bracket of 25 million to 40 million passengers in Europe. We got for the fifth time, we got the best airport stuff by Skytrax. We were again the third most punctual airport above 25 million passengers in Europe, ground handle of the Year from Payload Asia. So overall, I think really, really good results. And with the south extension of Terminal 3, we aim at the fifth star from Skytrex in the year to come. Ground Handling segment is -- had a good year as well. One part of the Handling & Security Services segment is ground handling, obviously, for the third consecutive time, we were in the positive territory there after the pandemic. Overall, ground handling, cargo handling, security service all driving the external revenues. Overall, this is from a margin perspective, obviously, a very, very difficult segment, tough competition in ground handling, high cost pressure and overall, yes, an EBIT of EUR 8.7 million. This is a slight increase over 2024. And yes, Vienna Airport Handling is still by far biggest ground handling operator at the airport with a market share of 86%. Retail & Properties, good development as well. The biggest share of revenue in this segment comes from center management and hospitality, so F&B and retail and the lounges, which were operated by Vienna Airport with a share of 53% of revenue, parking 30% revenue and plus 4% growth in 2025. Rentals, 17% share and plus 3%. Overall, revenues up 6%, EBIT up 3.5% to EUR 97.2 million. And yes, 25% share of the consolidated EBITDA in the full -- in the group. We already confirmed the F&B operators for the Southern expansion with a lot of Austrian and Viennese top F&B operators DO & CO, Figlmuller, Landtmann and so on. So overall, the food offer will improve significantly with this area. We have not yet finalized the contracts regarding -- regarding the retail offer, but the last month have proven that luxury brands are really, really difficult to get due to the crisis in the luxury segment. We expect to sign the contracts in the next 2 months, and we'll inform them accordingly about these new contracts. Malta, again, if you look just at January, after a record result with 10 million passengers, again, significant growth by 17% in January 2026. Overall, revenues up nearly 10%, EBITDA up 9%, EBIT up 7.6% overall 20% of the consolidated EBITDA in the group. So really excellent development. And I think the major challenge here will be to invest now in the coming years without jeopardizing our ongoing operations. We will invest here in Malta. Maybe we can jump to the next slide in the terminal building, but as well on the land side. So we urgently need more terminal space. There will be more retail space. There will be more -- the check-in space will more or less double. We will get more gates. So overall, this is the major challenge in the next few years. And this year only, we will invest EUR 70 million in Malta. Kosice had a good development as well, more than 800,000 passengers and huge growth in January with plus 35%, mainly due to the connection between Kosice and Bratislava, which is now operated 13x per week. So we are hopeful that we will surpass the 1 million passenger mark, which would be a record as well. We are making roughly 2 million net in Kosice, and we will invest there due to passenger growth as well in the modernization of the terminal in the expansion of the current capacity. As we said, so far, we don't see a reason to change our passenger guidance. We will obviously follow the current events in the Middle East very closely and monitor the situation. If need be, we will obviously get back to you with a revision. But so far, we think this would be premature. Still, we want to grow in the future despite the difficult situation we faced in 2026, where we expect a reduction in passenger numbers in Vienna by 2.5 million to roughly 30 million passengers, and we expect more than 41 million passengers within the group. Overall, we expect in Vienna to grow until 2035 to roughly 40 million passengers. This would be roughly growth on top of the 30 million we expect in 2026 of roughly 3%. We are right now in really good discussions to adjust the strategy of Austrian Airlines and Vienna Airport. And we are working on a common hub strategy, Vienna Airport 2030 plus. Overall, we are committed to invest further in quality and capacity. Right now, we are rolling out the new CT scanners, which should be installed at all security checks by summer 2026. The terminal South expansion is on its way. We will furthermore extend Pier North and add 5 new Pier Gates and 9 gates in total, which should be finalized by 2031. So overall, we are committed to invest and we will discuss with Austria in the coming months, all our contractual relations, and we are optimistic to come up with a joint strategy to develop and grow the hub in Vienna. What's needed for this as well is a bit of political support. So therefore, we are doing our utmost to, if not a complete abolishment of the ticket tax, so at least a significant reduction. This is obviously going to be difficult discussions and negotiations, but we are convinced that this would be not only help the aviation industry in Austria, this would help tourism industry in Austria. This is something the regional airports in Austria need. And therefore, we hope that we manage to convince government that it's not only about budget consolidation, but it's about growing the economy as well. And I think this would be a relatively small investment with quite a huge impact on important industry here in Austria. But by summer, we will know if we have been successful. So we will definitely do our utmost to convince government to move in this direction. So that's it from our end, and we are now happy to take your questions.

Yes, let's come to Q&A and the discussion. I see virtual hands raised 1, 2, 3 already. Vladimira, please go ahead. You have been the first one. Vladimira, we cannot hear you.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Okay. So one little question regarding your guidance. You are navigating us to net profit before minorities of EUR 210 million after minorities, EUR 185 million, same figures as we had seen in '25. But at the same time, you are talking about above-average growth at Malta, especially. So indirectly, it implies that we would see minorities at the same position. So I would like if you could elaborate maybe on that discrepancy. Next question would be related to that impact of the reduced presence of low-cost carriers in Vienna. In your opinion, how this will impact revenue per passenger because you will have a slightly different maybe change in structure of passengers. And by the way, what were revenues per passenger in 2025, and what is the expected development in '26? And then last but not least, it's related to your cost reduction efficiency improvement program. So if you maybe could share with us a few numbers, what do you want to achieve, especially in the area of personnel costs because you will have definitely also some negotiations or discussions regarding wage increases from 1st of May. So what is the visibility here? What is the targeted figure for personnel cost in '26? For now.

Yes. To start with your last question, definitely an agreement that is below inflation rate. And overall, personnel expenses in 2026 should be flat to 2025. And it will mean that we reduce headcount and that we lower the cost increases that are more or less built in the structure. And to understand the Malta, Vienna Airport relation in Malta, we will see additional depreciation due to the fact that the investments already started -- investment phase started 2 years ago. So although they will have a very substantial growth as it looks from now in 2026, this will partly be absorbed by higher depreciation and also by starting interest costs because Malta needs credits for their investments. In Vienna, we will invest out of our liquidity reserves and will not see substantial debt maybe before 2029. And the cost saving program is concentrating in Vienna. So it's not made for Malta or for Kosice because both of them are still growing and expanding. And therefore, the cost saving program is directed to Vienna. And it is related to all kind of costs, so personnel costs, materials and services. So all over the board, we see reductions.

Let me continue with the average revenues per passenger from the Aviation segment. We had -- in 2024, we had roughly EUR 15.50 net revenue per passenger. In 2025, we will be a bit above EUR 16. So an increase of roughly 3% and 2026 is now really difficult to guess. But my best guess would be that we are somewhere in between the EUR 1,550 and the EUR 16. I mean we will have -- on the one hand, we have a downward pressure due to the decrease in our charges. On the other hand, Ryanair and Wizz Air were eligible for the volume discount. So their cost per passenger net is a bit below the average. So I would guess we will be somewhere in between EUR 15.50 and EUR 16, although with all the current developments, this is really difficult to guess. Overall, I mean, you asked regarding the low-cost carriers. I expect -- and we saw a good development or a better development than expected in January and in the first half of February. Now obviously, everything has changed. But overall, the reductions of the low-cost carriers will kick in with the summer flight plan from April. And therefore, even today, our best guess is that we will be around the 30 million passengers. I think the strategy of Ryanair will depend a lot for the future on the political circumstances and tax burden. We've seen in Germany that with the announcement of government that they will reduce the ticket -- the German ticket tax, Ryanair started to put more capacity into Germany. If there's no change in Austria in the coming years, I would expect that they would probably reduce even a bit further, not completely leaving the market, but slowly but surely reducing capacity. So -- but this is the -- we have to wait as well and probably we will know more in the second half of this year.

Let's continue with Elias.

I have 2 questions. I'll take them one at a time. The first one on CapEx. So you're guiding for around EUR 330 million for 2026. Could you give us a sense of how you expect that to evolve in the outer years, so perhaps '27 and beyond? Because I think you mentioned '26 should be the peak, but just any visibility beyond that would be very helpful.

Yes. I mean 2026 definitely will be a peak because the main part of the South extension will be included. But given the scope of our projects, we will have a higher level also in the following years compared to '23 or '24. So I would expect it will definitely be more than EUR 200 million also in the following years, peaking then again once we are realizing Pier North extension. And the exact plans for that are still work in progress.

Great. Very clear. And second question on Malta. I mean you saw great 2025 in terms of traffic in Malta. Could you perhaps just give us some color on your expectations for 2026? I mean January was, again, a very strong month in terms of traffic. Do you expect this trend to continue in 2026? So should we see another year of double-digit traffic growth?

I mean that would be nice, but I wouldn't bank on that. So I'm sure that when summer comes, the growth rates will significantly go down. And I would expect something between, yes, around 5%, maybe a bit more, but single-digit numbers. Depending, obviously, I mean, in Malta, we've got some Middle East connections as well, depending obviously on the political environment as well.

Let's continue with Stella -- or Simon. Sorry, no, I mentioned Stella first. So let's stick to my words. Stella, please. Go ahead.

I have 2 questions, and I will go one by one as well. So the first question is, could you please share with us the dividend guidance for 2026? Will it be maintained at the same level as of 2025?

I didn't get it.

My question is for 2026, could you please share with us the dividend guidance? Will it be the same level as in 2025?

We will try our best. So if our expectations are fulfilled, it should be more or less at the same level, yes.

Okay. And my second question is in terms of the energy cost hedging considerations, are there any impacts foreseen to the 2026 cost base under the current disruption scenario?

I would not see it for now. I mean the price development of oil is very cautious, I would say. So it was roughly $78 for Brent several hours ago. And -- this is mainly affecting the airlines. And gas prices now went up fiercely in Europe, but I hope that the crisis should be very short-lived so that more or less within 1 month, maybe normality should come back. And electricity prices, we are not exposed at all because we bought the electricity we need from outside sources already 18, 24 months ago. And we are producing roughly 50% of our electricity consumption by our own photovoltaic production. So that is not at all affected from any of these price developments.

Simon, I apologize strongly, but now the floor is yours. Please go ahead.

So I have 2 topics that I wanted to discuss or get your opinion on. And that's, firstly, if you could explain a bit more the Iran conflict impact on to your business. To start off with a clarification, as a base case, 6% of passengers are at risk as long as the airspace in the Middle East is closed. Is that correct? Then a follow-up, how do you rate the chances to benefit as a hub, for example, from catering to the Asian region when airlines redirect their capacities? Thirdly, also in this bracket, do you plan any additional cost adjustment measures due to the conflict? And also with respect to your guidance, it's a point estimate. I mean, I know it's an approximation, but at what level would you adjust your guidance? I don't know, is it 2 weeks of conflict, 1 month of conflict with closed airspace. Is that EUR 1 million deviation you consider sensible to be the implied range? What's your thinking here? And I go with the dividend question thereafter.

Look, I think overall, it's much too early to jump to conclusions at this point in time. My best guess today would be that this conflict will not have a material impact on this year's results. If in 3 months from now and 4 months from now, we are still in the same situation, then I have to apologize that I was wrong. But I think we have to really wait now for 1 or 2 weeks how the whole conflict plays out, if there will be a regime change in Iran. So I think it's by far too early. Overall, I think if this conflict and the current -- the impact on the aviation industry of this conflict would be maintained over weeks and months, I would not underestimate the impact on the overall -- the world economy essentially. I mean, on the one hand, obviously, the Strait of Hormuz is a major issue. But on the other hand, if really Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi as global hubs would be taken out of operation for months, I think this would be a huge impact on the whole world economy. And overall, as long as we have these airspace closures in the Middle East, obviously, there would be additional impact. So on the one hand, yes, we expected this year that 6% of our passengers would come from the Middle East or go to the Middle East. But a lot of passengers, for instance, in -- from Tel Aviv, they're going on to North America, to the U.S. mainly. So you would have an additional impact on certain flights because of transfer in Vienna. On the other hand, there would be a kind of positive impact if the hubs in the Middle East really would be out of operation for a longer period of time because there would be more passengers looking for direct flights to East Asia, which would be a positive impact. So in the end, my best guess still would be that in a couple of weeks, we will be back to normal. On the other hand, the situation in the Middle East in terms of air traffic was not normal last year and the year before last year. We had many huge impact on Tel Aviv in current years. So overall, it's simply too early to come up with calculations. It's really -- I think it's too early to jump to conclusions, but rest assured, we will monitor the situation very closely, but it's too early to jump to conclusions.

The latest news are Israel already opened up again its airspace and the airports are operating again. And the same is for Dubai. So Dubai Airport already restarted operations. And I think we will see it's a very minor issue.

Okay. And then the second topic was also on the dividend, and I wanted to follow up on Stella's question. And in particular, the outlook for '26 and probably also the years thereafter. You now mentioned that you aim or that it would be a sensible logic to keep it more or less stable the dividend, whereas I'm also wondering to what degree you do this for political purposes because we have some workforce reductions and you also demand -- ticket tax adjustments and to what degree it reflects your truly perceived cash needs -- what's the combination here? Because also from a financial engineering standpoint, it can make sense to have some net debt. And I wanted to see what's your underlying logic here also going into the next years.

Yes. I think if we look in general to the maybe next 10 years up to 2035, we will see some rebalancing of our balance sheet that means that from today's perspective, we will not, for the whole period, be able to finance all the projects that are planned just out of the pocket. So yes, there will be maybe starting with '29 new debt. And for the dividend policy, I would not fundamentally change our general guidance that the payout ratio should stay between 60% and 70%. Given the fact that the third runway project had no cash impact, we decided to keep the dividend stable because if you look at our -- our revenue and our business results without this depreciation, we would have also fulfilling the 65% perception of last year, we would also end up with roughly EUR 165 million. So from that point of view, I think it's very consistent. And for the years to come, we should be in the corridor of 60% to 70% payout ratio given the respective business results and also the development of our projects. But for the time being, and I would even say for the next 10 years up to 2035, if not really extraordinary shock hit us, it's a very stable, sustainable and calculable development.

Are there any further questions or follow-ups? Seems not to be the case, no virtual hand raised. Then I thank you all for participating in our results conference call for the Q&A. If there are any further questions, please come back to me and contact me. Otherwise, I wish you a good afternoon, and enjoy the rest of the week. Goodbye.