September 3 (SeeNews) - The Ljubljana Airport said its net profit fell 42% on the year to 2.9 million euro ($4.1 million) in the first half of 2009.
"In the second quarter alone, Aerodrom Ljubljana recorded 2.27 million euro of net profit, which is 38% less than in the same period last year," the company said in a statement posted on its website.
Passenger traffic through June fell by more than 20% on the year to 612,779, the statement said.
The drop in the number of passengers is also reflected in an 18% year-on-year decline in first-half operating income to 15.4 million euro. Operating costs amounted to 12.7 million euro through June, 4.6% lower than in the same period last year.
The number of aircraft movements in the first half of this year fell by just under 10% compared to the same period last year, while cargo volumes fell by more than 25% on the year to 6,467 tonnes.
"Our data on traffic for July and August do indeed point to a slightly better second half. In July we serviced 9.1% fewer passengers than in the same month last year, while cargo traffic was down 29%. And so far the figures for August have been even better. While cargo traffic is still lagging 26% behind the comparable period of last year, the number of passengers is just a little over 4.0% down on last year," the statement said.
Major investments in the first half of 2009 included the first phase of reconstruction of the runway, which cost the company 2.9 million euro, and expansion of the main apron, for which 2.5 million euro had been allocated up to the end of the summer, it added.
The airport (www.lju-airport.si), 51%-owned by the Slovenian government, has said it expects a 15% drop in traffic in 2009 after transporting 1,673,050 passengers last year.
Aerodrom Ljubljana shares, part of LJSE's broader SBI20 index, were traded 0.69% down at an average price of 30.85 euro on Wednesday.
($=0.6989 euro)