How big is the financial constraint of the BER operator? The outlook has been darkened by the corona crisis. Hundreds of millions are missing. The latest management report has now been published.
Schönefeld (dpa) - The Berlin-Brandenburg airport company would have slipped deeper into the red this year without the corona crisis. This emerges from the consolidated financial statements, which the company published on Friday evening.
According to this, a loss of 157 million euros was planned for 2020, 61 million euros more than in the previous year.
"Due to the effects of the corona pandemic, a higher net loss for the year can now be assumed," says the report, which was found at the shareholders' meeting in Berlin, Brandenburg and the federal government on Friday as the owner of the airport. A reliable estimate is not possible.
The company is therefore still liquid until the first quarter of 2021 - but only if the planned capital help comes from the owners. They want to provide up to an additional EUR 300 million to compensate for the loss of sales in the Corona crisis this year. This corresponds to about two thirds of the usual annual turnover. Instead of just under 36 million passengers as in the previous year, the company expects at best 10 million this year.
In addition, the state-owned company has registered a financial requirement of 792 million euros for the next four years - mainly to pay bills for BER. The owners want to fill the gap halfway, the rest of the money is to be raised by the company itself. Airport chief Engelbert Lütke Daldrup assumes that the company will make a profit from 2025.
"Overall, the management sees FBB as well positioned for positive further development in the long term," emphasize the managing directors Lütke Daldrup and Manfred Bobke-von Camen. Over the past few weeks, doubts about it have been raised. However, the company always rejected reports of major financial problems and insolvency.
The epidemic does not identify any risks that could endanger the company's existence, the report says. After the financial crisis of 2008/2009 and the Europe-wide closure of the airspace after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano ten years ago, the aviation industry also recovered quickly.
Last year's winner was Tegel Airport again, which brought in an increase of 131 million euros. On October 31, after years of delays, the new BER airport in Schönefeld should go into operation and Tegel should close a few days later.
The site falls to the land nine months later. However, the airport company has to be liable for soil contamination and pollutants in buildings for two and a half years. However, the company does not expect any noteworthy payments. The old terminals in Schönefeld are to be used for almost another ten years.
Higher bonuses increased the remuneration of the managing directors last year. Airport boss Lütke Daldrup received an annual salary of 521,000 euros, of which 56,000 euros was performance-related remuneration. In total, that was 18,000 euros more than in the previous year.
Airport press releases
Annual report 2019