Schiphol Profit Drops 29 Percent in 2009

Schiphol Group, the operator of Amsterdam airport, Europe's third largest air freight hub, reported a 29 percent drop in 2009 net profit on reduced passenger and cargo traffic.

The group, which also owns Rotterdam and Eindhoven airports, booked net income of $179.5 million against $254.3 million in 2008 on unchanged revenue of $1.57 billion.

The result is ahead of Schiphol's forecast in August that it would make a profit of $54 million to $68 million.

“In the end, the effect of the decline in traffic on our results was less negative than expected at the half-way stage," due to tax adjustments and bigger-than-expected cost savings, said chief executive Jos Nijhuis.

Cargo volume fell nearly 18 percent in 2009 to 1.287 million metric tons, just ahead of London Heathrow but trailing Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Passenger traffic at Amsterdam declined just over eight percent to 43.6 million, maintaining its ranking as Europe's fifth largest airport.

The company, which is owned by the Dutch government, the cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam and French airports group Aeroports de Paris, said it expects the 2010 net profit to be similar to 2009 earnings.

Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.