Solid traffic recovery during the summer, with peaks at pre-pandemic levels

• En-route and terminal traffic grew by 24.1% and 14.5% respectively, in terms of service units vs. the first nine months of 2020;
• Consolidated revenue of 587.6 million euro, stable compared to the same period in 2020 due to the combined effect of a 23.8% rise in revenues from operations and a 24.1% decline in the balance component;
• Revenue from non-regulated business at 20.4 million euro, increasing by 24.6% vs. the first nine months of 2020;
• Consolidated EBITDA of 146.8 million euro, -16.4% compared to the first nine months of last year due to a different regulatory framework, impacting balance’s calculation method.

Rome, 11 November 2021 - ENAV S.p.A. Board of Directors meeting, held today under the chairmanship of Francesca Isgrò, approved the Interim Financial Report as of 30 September 2021.

ENAV’s CEO Paolo Simioni stated: Air traffic in Italy is outperforming all forecasts. Over the summer months we managed levels of traffic amounting to 70-80% of those recorded in 2019, reaching 100% in certain days. This growing trend remained stable, and in some days of October we reached or went beyond the number of flights managed in the same period in 2019. The Company is carrying on with its strategic investments to modernise the airspace infrastructure in order to deal with the rise in traffic while guaranteeing at the same time safety, punctuality, and service quality. ENAV is successfully operating in the non-regulated market: we’ve managed to create an integrated business model, linking Group’ several business areas. And this new approach is yielding the expected results.

The first nine months of 2021 were characterised by a significant recovery of air traffic, mainly during the summer period. In Italy, en-route service units showed an increase of 24.1% vs. the same period in 2020, thus reversing the negative trend (-16.6%) seen in the first half, thanks to the positive results recorded in Q3 2021, which showed an increase of 83.1%.

The rise in air traffic in Italy was higher than in other main European countries. The average data recorded by Eurocontrol member States in the period January-September 2021 was +8.3% in terms of service units. In detail: Germany (-5.2%), Great Britain (-12.9%), Spain (+17.5%), and France (+8.1%).

En-route traffic, in terms of service units, showed an increase of 24.1% in the first nine months of 2021, compared to the same period last year. Domestic air traffic (i.e., flights both taking off and landing from an Italian airport) saw an increase of 39.7% in terms of service units, whilst international air traffic (i.e., flights arriving in or departing from an airport abroad) grew by 8.5%. Similarly, overflight traffic (relating to flights that pass through Italian airspace) increased by 30.6%.

Terminal traffic increased by 14.5%, in terms of service units, in the first nine months of 2021, compared to same period in 2020. This increase in traffic volumes was recorded throughout Italy, with the exception of charging zone 1, related only to the Rome Fiumicino airport, which showed a drop of 14.8%. Charging zone 2, which includes the airports of Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate, Venice Marco Polo Tessera, and Bergamo Orio al Serio, recorded an increase of 11.1% in terms of service units in the first nine months of 2021. Charging zone 3, including all the remaining Italian airports, recorded an increase of 29% in terms of service units.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Total consolidated net revenue in the first nine months of 2021 was 587.6 million euro, remaining stable vs. the same period in 2020, due to the combined effect of higher revenue from operations, driven by an increase in traffic volumes, coupled with a drop in balance revenue.

Revenue from operations, stood at 341.8 million euro, increasing by 23.8% following a solid increase in traffic, especially over the summer period.

The effect of balance was positive for 217.7 million euro (-24.1% compared to the first nine months of 2020). En-route balance was positive for 169.2 million euro, with a decrease of 43.3 million euro compared to last year, and terminal balance was also positive for 48.5 million euro, with a decrease of 25.7 million euro vs. first nine months of 2020. These declines were driven by the change in the performance targets within the regulatory framework, affecting the balance’s calculation mechanism in the first nine months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.

Revenue from non-regulated business amounted to 20.4 million euro, with an increase of 24.6% compared to the first nine months of 2020. This rise was mainly due to revenues from ENAV’s IDS AirNav, coming from sales of systems and platforms for the management of aeronautical data, sold mainly to non-European customers.

Total operating costs stood at 440.7 million euro in the first nine months of 2021, with an increase of 6.6% vs. 30 September 2020, mainly due to activities linked to the recovery of air traffic volumes.

Personnel costs amounted to 362.8 million euro, with an increase of 5.8% compared to the same period last year. Fixed retribution remained substantially unchanged while variable retribution recorded an increase of 54.8%, mainly due to an unfair comparison with nine months 2020, when holiday balance was brought to zero, and to the staff’s return to their normal operating arrangement (vs. the reduced arrangement applied in 2020).

Consolidated EBITDA stood at 146.8 million euro in the first nine months of 2021, with a decrease of 16.4% vs. the same period in 2020 due to the different regulatory framework, especially with reference to performance targets, which determined a non-homogeneous comparison over the two periods, given the difference in balance calculation.

In the first nine months of 2021, consolidated EBIT and consolidated net profit stood at 55.6 million euro (down by 28.2% YoY) and at 41.8 million euro (decreasing 24.1% YoY) respectively, mainly due to the above-mentioned different regulatory framework.

The net financial position stood at 425.5 million euro, with a negative effect of 180.4 million euro compared to 31 December 2020. The decline is due to the effect of income and payment dynamics related to daily operating activities, which generated a negative cash flow as a consequence of the reduction of income from the parent Company’s core business despite the recovery of flights in the summer period which will be cashed-in during QQ4 2021. It is worth noting that, as of 30 September 2021, the Group has undrawn short-term credit lines for a total of 294 million euro, of which 220 million euro committed and 74 million euro uncommitted.