Aeroports de paris profit rises on passenger numbers, retail

Aeroports de Paris, operator of the French capital’s Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, said first-half profit rose 6.3 percent as traffic increased and passengers spent more on duty-free goods.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose to 459 million euros ($662 million) from 432 million euros a year earlier, Paris-based ADP said today in a statement. Analysts had expected earnings of 461 million euros, the average of seven estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Profit was boosted by a “general recovery in traffic” and retail spending per passenger, which rose 10 percent, Chief Executive Officer Pierre Graff said in the statement. Overall revenue advanced 1.8 percent to 1.34 billion euros on a 7.4 percent traffic gain to 42 million passengers.

Even without disruption in April 2010 from an Icelandic volcano eruption, traffic would have risen 3.7 percent in the first half of this year, Graff said. Full-year figures will show “slightly lower” growth than the 4 percent revenue gain and 5 percent increase in Ebitda recorded last year, the company predicted.

Net income, which rose 31 percent to 180 million euros in the first half, was boosted by one-time gains including a 50 million-euro compensation payment for the 2004 collapse of the Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2E building, ADP said.