Corporación América Airports Reports First Quarter 2025 Results

Business Wire

22-05-2025

LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Corporación América Airports S.A. (NYSE: CAAP), ('CAAP' or the 'Company') one of the leading private airport operators in the world, reported today its unaudited, consolidated results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2025. Financial results are expressed in millions of U.S. dollars and are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ('IASB').
Commencing 3Q18, the Company began reporting results of its Argentinean subsidiaries applying Hyperinflation Accounting, in accordance with IFRS rule IAS 29 ('IAS 29'), as detailed in Section 'Hyperinflation Accounting in Argentina' on page 21.
First Quarter 2025 Highlights
Consolidated Revenues ex-IFRIC12 totaled $416.9 million, up 6.4% year-over-year (YoY), driven by increases of 6.8% and 6.1% in Aeronautical Revenues and Commercial Revenues, respectively. Excluding rule IAS 29, consolidated revenues ex-IFRIC12 increased 11.5% YoY to $413.9 million.
Key operating metrics:
7.3% increase in passenger traffic to 20.4 million, or up 9.4% excluding Natal.
9.1% increase in cargo volume to 95.9 thousand tons.
3.1% increase in aircraft movements, or 4.7% excluding Natal.
Operating Income of $104.0 million, compared with $124.8 million in 1Q24.
Adjusted EBITDA ex-IFRIC12 decreased 4.6% to $155.6 million, from $163.2 million in the year-ago period. Excluding the impact of rule IAS 29, Adjusted EBITDA ex-IFRIC12 increased 4.0% to $157.9 million.
Adjusted EBITDA margin ex-IFRIC12 was 37.3% compared to 41.7% in 1Q24. Adjusting for rule IAS 29, Adjusted EBITDA margin ex-IFRIC12 contracted to 38.2% from 40.9% in the prior-year quarter.
Strong liquidity position with Cash & Cash equivalents of $448.6 million as of March 31, 2025.
Net debt to LTM Adjusted EBITDA stood at 1.1x as of March 31, 2025, unchanged from December 31, 2024.
CEO Message
Commenting on the results for the quarter Mr. Martín Eurnekian, CEO of Corporación América Airports, noted: 'We had a solid start to 2025, driven by a strong recovery in Argentina and traffic growth across all our markets. Total passenger traffic rose by over 7% year-over-year, or more than 9% when excluding the discontinued Natal concession in Brazil. Argentina led the rebound, delivering double-digit growth and reaching record-high volumes in January. Uruguay also achieved an all-time record at Carrasco airport in January, while Italy posted strong performance at both Florence and Pisa airports. Growth was broad-based, with gains in both international and domestic traffic. International traffic in particular maintained strong momentum, increasing nearly 13% compared to the same period last year.
"Revenues grew by 6% year-over-year, or close to 12% on an ex-IAS 29 basis—outpacing traffic growth and highlighting our focus on maintaining commercial revenue momentum. Adjusted EBITDA excluding IAS 29 rose 4% to $158 million, supported by positive contributions from Argentina, Uruguay, and Ecuador. EBITDA margin ex-IAS 29 stood at 38%, impacted by inflationary pressures in Argentina, where Peso-denominated costs continued to outpace currency depreciation, as well as FX translation effects in Brazil and, to a lesser extent, in Italy.
"On the commercial front, we are advancing key initiatives to increase revenue per PAX as well as enhance the passenger experience. In Argentina, we are completing the expansion of the duty-free arrivals area at Ezeiza Airport this month, more than doubling its size. In Uruguay, we inaugurated a new covered parking facility at Montevideo Airport, further improving service quality and unlocking growth in commercial revenues.
"Strategically, we continued to advance value creation projects across our portfolio. In Armenia, we are progressing with our $425 million Capex program. In Italy, the Florence master plan received a positive environmental review, and in Argentina, we remain in active negotiations with the government regarding the revision of the economic equilibrium of the Aeropuertos Argentina concession agreement. On the new business front, we submitted our proposal for a 30-year concession in Montenegro and further clarifications in Angola. We boosted our new business development team to pursue future opportunities.
"Finally, we were honored to receive several industry recognitions that speak to our operational excellence. Carrasco Airport in Uruguay was named Best Airport in Latin America and the Caribbean under 2 million passengers by ACI. Brasília Airport ranked second globally for punctuality in its category and topped Brazil in passenger satisfaction, while Guayaquil Airport in Ecuador earned a prestigious 5-star EFQM rating.
"We enter the rest of the year with strong momentum and remain focused on executing our strategy with discipline to control costs and deliver value creation.'
To obtain the full text of this earnings release and the earnings presentation, please click on the following link: http://investors.corporacionamericaairports.com/Results-Center
1Q25 EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL
Use of Non-IFRS Financial Measures
This announcement includes certain references to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted EBITDA excluding Construction Service and Adjusted EBITDA Margin excluding Construction service, as well as Net Debt:
Adjusted EBITDA is defined as income for the period before financial income, financial loss, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization.
Adjusted EBITDA Margin is calculated by dividing Adjusted EBITDA by total revenues.
Adjusted EBITDA excluding Construction Service ('Adjusted EBITDA ex-IFRIC') is defined as income for the period before construction services revenue and cost, financial income, financial loss, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization.
Adjusted EBITDA Margin excluding Construction Service ('Adjusted EBITDA Margin ex-IFRIC12') excludes the effect of IFRIC 12 with respect to the construction or improvements to assets under the concession and is calculated by dividing Adjusted EBITDA excluding Construction Service revenue and cost, by total revenues less Construction service revenue.
Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted EBITDA excluding Construction Service and Adjusted EBITDA Margin excluding Construction Service are not measures recognized under IFRS and should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, consolidated net income for the year as determined in accordance with IFRS or as indicators of our operating performance from continuing operations. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this information and should note that these measures as calculated by the Company, may differ materially from similarly titled measures reported by other companies. We believe that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA excluding Construction Service enhances an investor's understanding of our performance and are useful for investors to assess our operating performance by excluding certain items that we believe are not representative of our core business. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA excluding Construction Service are useful because they allow us to more effectively evaluate our operating performance and compare the results of our operations from period to period without regard to our financing methods, capital structure or income taxes and construction services (when applicable).
Net debt is calculated by deducting 'Cash and cash equivalents' from total financial debt.
Figures ex-IAS 29 result from dividing nominal Argentine pesos for the Argentine Segment, by the average foreign exchange rate of the Argentine Peso against the US dollar in the period. Percentage variations ex-IAS 29 figures compare results as presented in the prior year quarter before IAS 29 came into effect, against ex-IAS 29 results for this quarter as described above. For comparison purposes, the impact of adopting IAS 29 in Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, the Company's largest subsidiary in Argentina, is presented separately in each of the applicable sections of this earnings release, in a column denominated 'IAS 29'. The impact from 'Hyperinflation Accounting in Argentina' is described in more detail page 21 of this report.
Definitions and Concepts
Commercial Revenues: CAAP derives commercial revenue principally from fees resulting from warehouse usage (which includes cargo storage, stowage and warehouse services and related international cargo services), services and retail stores, duty free shops, car parking facilities, catering, hangar services, food and beverage services, retail stores, including royalties collected from retailers' revenue, and rent of space, advertising, fuel, airport counters, VIP lounges and fees collected from other miscellaneous sources, such as telecommunications, car rentals and passenger services.
Construction Service revenue and cost: Investments related to improvements and upgrades to be performed in connection with concession agreements are treated under the intangible asset model established by IFRIC 12. As a result, all expenditures associated with investments required by the concession agreements are treated as revenue generating activities given that they ultimately provide future benefits, and subsequent improvements and upgrades made to the concession are recognized as intangible assets based on the principles of IFRIC 12. The revenue and expense are recognized as profit or loss when the expenditures are performed. The cost for such additions and improvements to concession assets is based on actual costs incurred by CAAP in the execution of the additions or improvements, considering the investment requirements in the concession agreements. Through bidding processes, the Company contracts third parties to carry out such construction or improvement services. The amount of revenues for these services is equal to the amount of costs incurred plus a reasonable margin, which is estimated at an average of 3.0% to 5.0%.
About Corporación América Airports
Corporación América Airports acquires, develops and operates airport concessions. Currently, the Company operates 52 airports in 6 countries across Latin America and Europe (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Armenia and Italy). In 2024, Corporación América Airports served 79.0 million passengers, 2.7% (or 0.4% excluding Natal) below the 81.1 million passengers served in 2023, and 6.2% below the 84.2 million served in 2019. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange where it trades under the ticker 'CAAP'. For more information, visit http://investors.corporacionamericaairports.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements relating to our future plans, projections, events or prospects are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and can be identified by terms such as 'believes,' 'continue,' 'could,' 'potential,' 'remain,' 'will,' 'would' or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the Covid-19 impact, delays or unexpected casualties related to construction under our investment plan and master plans, our ability to generate or obtain the requisite capital to fully develop and operate our airports, general economic, political, demographic and business conditions in the geographic markets we serve, decreases in passenger traffic, changes in the fees we may charge under our concession agreements, inflation, depreciation and devaluation of the AR$, EUR, BRL, UYU or the AMD against the U.S. dollar, the early termination, revocation or failure to renew or extend any of our concession agreements, the right of the Argentine Government to buy out the AA2000 Concession Agreement, changes in our investment commitments or our ability to meet our obligations thereunder, existing and future governmental regulations, natural disaster-related losses which may not be fully insurable, terrorism in the international markets we serve, epidemics, pandemics and other public health crises and changes in interest rates or foreign exchange rates. The Company encourages you to review the 'Cautionary Statement' and the 'Risk Factor' sections of our annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019 and any of CAAP's other applicable filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information concerning factors that could cause those differences.