Record peak travel season is over

FWAG closed the peak travel season with solid traffic results on August 24, slightly better than expected and with a new historical record.

Yesterday, FWAG concluded the peak travel season with a solid traffic result for August 24, which was slightly above expectations. In detail:

In August The number of passengers in the group increased by 9% year-on-year to 4.4 million passengers (eNuW: 4.3 million), reflecting the busy travel season, particularly in Malta (+12% year-on-year) and Košice (+23% year-on-year). The largest contribution came from Vienna (75% of group passengers), where passenger numbers increased by 7% year-on-year to 3.3 million, also recording a solid improvement. – For details see page 2

Historic record in peak travel season: While July 2024 was the strongest month in the history of Vienna Airport, this young record was even surpassed in August 2024. This marks the end of the most successful summer travel season with a combined passenger volume of 6.7 million passengers (July & August) at Vienna Airport in the two busiest months of the year.

Year-to-date growth in line with peer group: FWAG’s passenger growth since the beginning of the year (10% year-on-year) is good compared to European competitors (see p. 2). Munich is showing catching-up effects with a YTD growth rate of 13.6% year-on-year, but is still 15% below its pre-crisis level, while FWAG is 5% above 2019 levels. Athens, on the other hand, seems to benefit from a seasonally strong summer, but also from a general tourism boom in recent years, which explains both the strong YTD growth rate of 14% and the surpassing of 2019 levels by 23%.

Seasonality slows down growth dynamics: Due to the upcoming start of the winter season (October-April), we expect a decline in both absolute passenger numbers and growth rates over the next few months compared to the previous year (see p. 2). This should still lead to a group passenger count of 41 million (eNuW) in the 2024 financial year, representing solid growth of 8% year-on-year.

Following the second quarter results, FWAG’s share price has come even closer to our fair value PZ from € 59,00 (unchanged, based on DCF), which we believe further limits the likelihood of near-term share price increases.

Therefore, the share remains a HOLDbecause we believe that the current solid operating results are well reflected by the current valuation.