Flughafen Zürich AG

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the presentation of our full year results 2024.

My name is Lukas Brosi, and I will be hosting this presentation together with Kevin Fleck, our Group CFO. I would like to remind you that the presentation is also available on our website.

Today's agenda is as follows: I will begin with a brief business update. Following that, Kevin will provide insights into our financial performance and share our outlook, including the new dividend policy.

At the end of the presentation, we will have -- we will address your questions. Please submit your questions already during the presentation.

This helps us organize them more efficiently. Stefan Weber will moderate the Q&A session.

Let me begin by highlighting our milestones for the full year 2024. In 2024, traffic exceeded our initial expectations, almost reaching pre-crisis levels.

Further, we achieved a milestone with the introduction of a rollover mechanism for airport charges following revisions to parts of the ordinance on airport charges. These regulatory adjustments will enhance the likelihood of reaching a consensus in future negotiations and will ensure greater long-term planning reliability for all stakeholders.

Despite ongoing construction work, our commercial business performed excellent as well as our real estate business. I will provide more details on this later in the presentation.

Our international holdings made a substantial contribution to the company's success and continued to grow. With the inauguration of Noida Airport, the international business has further impressive potential for long-term growth.

The rising demand for air travel in our focus markets offers a strong foundation for further expansion of the international business segment. In 2024, we also introduced our inaugural strategy map, which will help communicate clearer targets and priorities to our stakeholders.

Beyond our infrastructural and technological advancements, the proficiency and satisfaction of our employees are crucial for our future success. Last year, we implemented several initiatives to enhance our attractiveness as an employer, particularly for shift work.

Continuous education and upskilling of our staff are central to our strategy for effectively meeting future challenges and operational stability at the airport. Lastly, we have been active in driving innovation projects and making progress on our ESG goals.

Let's take a closer look at some key figures. The rise in traffic volume and unregulated revenue led to new records in revenue, operating profit and consolidated results for the reporting year.

The consolidated result increased to CHF 327 million, surpassing the 2019 level for the first time. In total, we invested approximately CHF 571 million with around CHF 293 million allocated to the Zurich site.

Additionally, the CapEx figure for 2024 include an upfront payment of around CHF 60 million for Natal Airport in Brazil. Last year, we invested in refining our guiding strategic principles.

This process allowed us to reaffirm our business model and define 5 key target dimensions: business performance, economics, innovation and efficiency, quality and customer experience and ESG. By establishing measurable performance indicators aligned with these dimensions, we aim to enhance our company's governance and systematically set our priorities.

We believe that this sharpened strategic focus will enable us to continue securing business success, strengthening our competitiveness and contributing positively to sustainable development. For instance, within the business performance dimension, we are bolstering our existing business segments, both at our Zurich site and our international subsidiaries.

This effort includes maintaining favorable conditions for flight operation, further developing our real estate portfolio and offering a high-quality range of commercial services. Success in this area will be reflected in our share price with the goal of achieving a higher return relative to the Swiss market index mid-cap.

Regarding the ESG dimension, we utilize the MSCI ESG rating to measure our sustainability efforts. This rating assesses how we manage our environmental, social and governance opportunities and risks.

We are committed to achieving a AA rating in recognition of our dedication to these principles. Part of this framework will also be used for the variable compensation of the Management Board and on management level within our company going forward.

Further details regarding our strategy map and the future remuneration can be found in our latest integrated report. I will now highlight some of the sustainability and innovation initiatives we launched last year.

First, we put our first electrically powered waste collection vehicle into operation in December. The transition from combustion engines to sustainably powered vehicles has been steadily progressing since 2022 and is now continuing with heavy commercial vehicles.

Second, we signed a long-term offtake agreement for renewable diesel with Synhelion, a Swiss cleantech company producing solar fuels. Starting in 2027, we will purchase 30,000 liters of solar diesel from Synhelion annually.

Initially, this renewable diesel will be used to power already existing passenger buses on the airport premises. Later, special vehicles without electric drive will also be powered by solar diesel.

Third, autonomous vehicles are set to be tested at Zurich Airport this year with the testing being carried out on airside. These initiatives lays the groundwork for the future use of autonomous technology at the airport.

In preparation for the test phase, the so-called robotaxi has been put into operation to gather the necessary data and evidence. All these initiatives were launched last year.

And while each one has a relatively small impact individually, together, they can create a meaningful impact that will help us to achieve our sustainability goals. Let's review our main business segment, beginning with the aviation business.

The desire to travel remains strong. In 2024, passenger volumes largely returned to pre-pandemic levels at Zurich Airport despite fewer flight movements.

This indicates that aircraft capacity utilization has increased along with the greater use of larger aircraft. After a setback in the previous year, freight volumes increased by 15% in 2024.

In detail, the number of passengers traveling through Zurich Airport increased by 8% compared to the previous year. While the passenger traffic started off modestly at the beginning of the year, it surpassed precrisis levels in the months of May, September, October and December.

Additionally, there were several peak days with more than 110,000 passengers. The expansion of our route network and the addition of new airlines last year highlight Zurich Airport's continued appeal and attractiveness.

Notably, Air India returned to Zurich Airport after more than 25 years. The airline has been offering 4 weekly flights between Zurich and New Delhi since June 2024.

We were able to provide our passengers with a reliable and high-quality travel experience as confirmed by the various awards our airport has received last year. However, we also faced several external challenges such as bottlenecks in the European traffic control, geopolitical tensions and an increased number of extreme weather events affecting flight operation.

This slide compares passenger development at Zurich Airport between 2019 and 2024. The various market regions of Zurich Airport show different developments.

First, in Europe, southern countries and leisure destination have significantly surpassed 2019 passenger levels. In contrast, countries like Germany, France and Austria are still below their 2019 capacity.

Overall, however, our most significant market, Europe saw a 99% rebound in passenger numbers compared to 2019. Looking at North America, both the U.S.

and Canada were clearly above precrisis level last year with North America exceeding pre-crisis volumes by 8%. In Asia, the situation is more varied.

India, Thailand, Japan have reached or even exceeded 2019 levels, while China has not yet returned to its 2019 capacity. In 2024, the top European destinations by passenger numbers were London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and inter continentally, the leading cities were New York, Dubai and Bangkok.

In the following slide, we'll give you an overview of our commercial and real estate business. Despite the impact of construction project, our retail and restaurant sectors performed consistently well, achieving a record turnover in 2024.

The increased turnover and revenues highlight the attractiveness of our offerings and the overall quality of our location. Moreover, we successfully forged partnerships with new brands.

Additionally, the strategic alignment of The Circle as a business and service hub is proving effective. The real estate business across the entire airport perimeter continues to significantly contribute to our company's overall success, achieving a record figure as well in 2024.

By expanding and modernizing our real estate assets, we are not only stabilizing our income, but also enhancing the long-term value of our portfolio. The commercial business is progressing further, and I'd like to discuss one of our main ongoing projects at Zurich Airport.

the development of the landside passenger zones. In essence, this project aims to better connect the landside facilities of the airport with The Circle.

Additionally, it will enhance our logistics operations and create an incremental commercial space of 8,000 to 10,000 square meters upon completion at the end of 2027. As a result of this project, we began closing some of our stores and restaurants in February 2024.

And in January 2025, we had to close additional commercial offerings, and this will continue in 2026 and 2027. This impact has already been reflected in our landside commercial turnover, and is expected to accelerate although it remains relatively insignificant for our total commercial operations.

We anticipate a mid-single-digit million Swiss franc loss in commercial revenues per year during construction. By the end of 2027, the completion of the construction work will reveal newly renovated passenger areas, offering visitors and passengers fresh retail and dining option and more spacious pathways.

Overall, due to the high demand for air travel and Zurich Airport's popularity as a destination for shopping, both landside and airside turnover continued to rise in 2024. On airside, several new and attractive stores like Zegna, Hour passion, and Pre-Loved Luxury were introduced, enhancing the shopping experience.

Landside turnover also saw a slight increase despite the mentioned construction work. The landside commercial area size has been adjusted for 2 reasons.

First, the current construction work will temporarily reduce commercial space. And second, as mentioned at our Investor Day in 2023, we reallocated space within The Circle, resulting in less commercial space, but more fixed rental space such as offices.

And also worth mentioning our various attractions drew numerous visitors to the airport. Thousands of people visited our observation decks or participated in one of our tours excursion or the Zauberpark festival of Light and Music contributing to the commercial activity at Zurich Airport.

And last but not least, let's turn our attention to our international businesses, which has experienced a very attractive year as well. Let's take a look at the passenger figures at our internationally operated airports in Latin America.

The passenger numbers at Florianópolis Airport in 2024 have significantly exceeded our initial expectations, primarily due to the closure of the nearby Porto Alegre Airport. Last spring, severe flooding caused extensive damage at this airport, leading travelers to opt for Florianópolis Airport as an alternative.

Porto Alegre resumed operations in October 2024, and we now anticipate the normalization of passenger figures in Florianópolis. Additionally, it's worth mentioning Natal Airport, which we successfully took over in February 2024.

As a result, we have been reporting passenger figures for Natal Airport since March 2024. Now let me provide you more detail -- with a more detailed update on our activities at our international portfolio.

Let's continue with our airports in Latin America. Last year, we celebrated a decade of operation in Brazil and at Florianópolis Airport, we marked the fifth anniversary of the new terminal.

In July 2024, Florianópolis Airport achieved a new monthly record with 480,000 passengers. The international network is steadily increasing.

For example, TAP introduced a direct connection with Lisbon in September 2024, making Florianópolis the third largest international airport in Brazil after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In Macaé, the new runway construction was completed at the end of 2024 and is set to begin operation in the coming weeks, pending regulatory approval.

In Vitória, 15 new real estate projects were launched on 80% of the available land last year with some already completed. We are granting land leases for this real estate projects, providing additional nonregulated revenues.

The international airport in Natal has a capacity of up to 6.5 million passengers per year. Initial measures to enhance infrastructure and improve the passenger experience were implemented to ensure long-term quality, which passengers are used to from our Brazilian airports.

In November 2024, the terminal extension at the Iquique Airport was inaugurated. The expansion will significantly boost the airport capacity and further enhance the passenger experience as well.

I'm personally very proud of our airports in Latin America. They are among the best and most advanced in their countries in terms of quality, passenger satisfaction and sustainability.

And the same will apply to Noida when the airport will be operational, which I will talk about on the next slide. Noida Airport has been and will continue to be a hot topic among our investors and analysts.

Given its scale, this project is a significant game changer for our international portfolio and is anticipated to substantially contribute to our growth of the company in the coming years. Over the last months, we have made remarkable progress in constructing the terminal, completing the runway and building the air traffic control tower.

The total construction cost for Phase 1 remains within the previous estimate of CHF 750 million. Additionally, we have awarded all major sub-concessions to third parties at the end of the second quarter 2025 with a gradual ramp-up over the next 3 to 5 months.

Operations are expected to begin with cargo services first as this infrastructure will be fully completed, while the interior work on the terminal will take a few more months. Once finished, passenger traffic will commence.

Throughout the project, it was evident that the final months leading up to the opening would be the most challenging as everything now comes together. Therefore, key questions will be addressed in the coming weeks.

Providing guidance on passenger volumes or EBITDA is difficult at this stage. We estimate a roughly neutral EBITDA contribution from Noida for the current financial year.

The actual outcome will depend on the speed of the operational ramp-up, and we will provide a detailed operational update in August when we publish our half year figures. We remain optimistic and committed about the long-term potential of this 40-year concession and our economic projections in the business plan have been confirmed.

Additionally, we are planning a site visit for investors and analysts during the first week of November 2025. The visit will include a detailed airport tour, of course, and the Q&A session with members of the Noida Airport Management Board.

We are very happy to showcase our new project. For those interested in attending, please contact our Investor Relations department.

Now I will hand over to Kevin, who will provide our financial update and outlook.

Thank you, Lukas. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome, and thank you for joining us. I will now provide an overview of the company's financial performance.

Let me start with a financial overview. The increase in traffic volume and the growth of unregulated business activities have resulted in a record-breaking revenue.

At the start of 2024, user fees were increased due to the refurbishment of the baggage sorting and handling system. This was the primary reason aviation revenue surpassed passenger number growth by 10%.

Aviation revenue reached 102% of the level seen in 2019. Non-aviation revenue grew by 4%, amounting to approximately 119% of 2019 revenues.

EBITDA rose by 8% year-on-year to CHF 733 million, setting a new record. Compared to 2019, EBITDA was up by 14%.

The consolidated results for the year rose by 7% to CHF 327 million. This includes an impairment of around CHF 8 million for our airport in Iquique, Chile and a CHF 3 million valuation adjustment for pension fund liabilities in personnel costs.

So let's take a closer look at the non-aviation figures. Total commercial and parking revenue increased by 5% year-over-year.

Advertising, media and promotions saw the highest relative growth, partly due to higher passenger numbers. Real estate revenue also performed well, reaching a record high of CHF 197 million.

The reduction in energy and utility cost allocation was balanced by higher revenue from rental agreements. The anticipated decrease in energy and utility cost allocation was mainly due to lower energy and waste costs that could be passed on to tenants.

Revenue from services grew by 3% to CHF 49 million for the year, mainly due to increased passenger volumes. The international business continued to expand, benefiting, among other things, from the operational takeover of the airport in Natal, Brazil in February 2024.

The airport in Florianópolis, Brazil saw a significant increase in passenger numbers due to the temporary closure of the nearby Porto Alegre Airport. Overall, revenue in the International Airport business rose by 11% to CHF 131 million.

2024 saw a further increase in costs, mainly due to volume effects and inflation. Overall, operating costs increased by 6% year-on-year, reaching CHF 593 million.

When excluding construction project expenses, adjusted operating costs rose by 9% to CHF 566 million. At our half year report, the increase in operating costs was 13%, showing that the cost growth has slowed down in the second half of 2024.

Compared to 2019, the adjusted operating expenses were 17% higher. Personnel expenses saw an 11% increase, mainly due to a rise in headcount and adjustments for inflation.

This figure also includes, as mentioned before, a CHF 3 million valuation adjustment for pension fund liabilities, reflecting an increase in the conversion rate. According to our half year report, personnel expenses rose by 15% in the first 6 months of the year.

This indicates as well that the rate of cost growth slowed down in the second half of 2024. Costs for police and security went up by 11%, amounting to CHF 130 million, driven by higher passenger volumes and inflation adjustments.

In contrast, energy and waste costs decreased by 9%, totaling CHF 44 million, thanks to reductions in electricity and district heating tariffs. I will now outline some key financial ratios.

Net financial debt saw a slight increase. However, the leverage ratio remained stable at around 1.6x due to higher EBITDA.

The increased earnings positively influenced our return on invested capital, which rose to 7.9% primarily due to changes in working capital and higher income taxes paid, operating cash flow decreased to CHF 642 million. Higher investments, along with the upfront payment for the new airport in Natal impacted our free cash flow generation.

Excluding the upfront payment for Natal, which can be considered as an M&A payment, free cash flow would have been around CHF 130 million. With the completion of Noida this year and without any new larger projects, we anticipate a substantial increase in free cash flow generation for the group in the future.

We are also tackling major infrastructure projects like replacing the baggage sorting system and enhancing the landside passenger zones. These projects are being carried out while the airport is operational, requiring significant commitment from our employees and partner companies.

For the development of the landside passenger zones, the next construction phase has begun. This leads to a considerable expansion of the construction sites on our landside facilities and the associated closure of The Circle tunnel.

Additionally, several shops, restaurants and services had to be relocated or closed. The most important project in the next decade in Zurich is the construction of the New Dock A and the overall development of the main airport complex.

These investments are essential to maintain our status as a reliable, efficient and high-quality international airport. Our most significant international project in 2024 was the development of Noida Airport in India, which we are looking forward to open this year.

Let's now switch to a more technical topic, the airport charges at Zurich Airport. On this slide, I will provide an overview of the next steps regarding tariff setting at Zurich Airport.

The course is clearly defined by the ordinance on airport charges. The process to adjust our tariffs will commence soon as we need to invite the negotiating parties next month.

Before starting the negotiations, we will also send them a charge proposal. This proposal will serve as the basis for the bargaining.

The involved parties will then have time to prepare for the actual negotiations, which will begin in October this year. As indicated on the slide, these discussions are expected to last 4 to 6 months.

Up to this point, the time line is very clear. However, the outcome of the talks remains uncertain.

In case of successful negotiations, the earliest we could implement new tariffs would be around mid-2026. In case of failed negotiations, we will rely on the Federal Office of Civil Aviation and their decree might be subject to appeals by other parties.

Therefore, under this scenario, it is difficult to predict when the new charges will take effect, but it would be earliest around the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027. Additionally, the level of airport charges will depend on the negotiations.

This primarily depends on the expected traffic outlook, anticipated regulated investments, expected regulated WACC and projected regulated operational expenses. Going forward, we will, of course, keep you updated on the process.

However, we will not be in the position to comment on the expected outcome during the process. So let's proceed to the outlook and the new dividend policy.

In 2025, we expect around 32 million passengers at Zurich Airport, which will be a new record. Aviation revenue are expected to align with traffic growth.

Non-aviation revenue is anticipated to be slightly higher overall. At the Zurich side, increasing traffic volumes will positively impact parking revenue.

However, commercial revenue may decline somewhat due to the temporary closure of additional commercial spaces as part of the project to develop the landside passenger zones. Revenue from rental agreements is forecast to rise slightly, while energy and utility cost allocations will have a dampening effect due to tariff reductions for electricity and district heating.

Overall, real estate revenue is expected to decrease slightly. Revenue from international business will see an increase and for the first time, will include contributions from operating the new airport in Noida, India.

Operating expenses are also projected to rise, mainly due to the start-up of Noida, volume-related increases, inflation and measures to enhance our attractiveness as an employer. Personnel expenses will rise more than average due to the in-sourcing of passengers with reduced mobility services, PRM, which will be offset by lower other operating costs.

In summary, we expect EBITDA in 2025 to be roughly the same as the previous year. However, consolidated profit is likely to be lower than in the previous financial year.

With the opening of Noida Airport, depreciation and interest expenses will impact the income statement. It is important to note that we expect another strong financial performance from our main asset, Zurich Airport in 2025.

The projected decrease in the group's net profit will be primarily due to Noida Airport. Investments at the Zurich site are projected to be between CHF 300 million and CHF 350 million in 2025.

Subsidiaries abroad are expected to invest an estimated CHF 300 million with the majority allocated to the completion of construction of the new airport in Noida. Before we start the Q&A, a final slide on the new dividend policy.

We have previously informed the market about announcing a new dividend policy today. This slide shows our new dividend policy and the comparison with the old policy, which lasted until the financial year 2024.

Developing a new dividend policy in the current business environment has been challenging. We had to consider several factors, including upcoming CapEx programs in Zurich, potential changes in tariffs, flexibility for M&A options, both in Zurich and internationally and the overall leverage of the group.

Our Board of Directors has decided to increase the payout of the ordinary dividend from 40% to 50% of net income, as shown on the slide. Additionally, we will pay out an extra 25% of net income if the group's leverage remains low.

This means the total payout could be up to 75% of our net income. Based on our internal leverage ratio forecast and in absence of any major M&A transactions, we expect to pay out roughly 75% in the coming years.

The new dividend policy will take effect starting with the financial year 2025 with the first actual payment occurring in the second quarter of 2026. Our updated dividend policy demonstrates our commitment of being an attractive dividend-paying company while also allowing for further organic and inorganic growth.

Thank you, and back to you, Lukas.

Thank you, Kevin. We have now reached the end of our results presentation.

I'll begin the Q&A session. I will now hand over to Stefan, who will moderate the session.

Yes. Thank you very much.

We have received quite a number of questions. So let's get started straight away.

First one is on Noida. Can you give us your latest updates on the construction works?

And when do you expect to start operations?

Yes, sure. Construction is continuing.

The most important infrastructure has been built. The schedule we had originally was tight.

We expect that in the Q2 2025, we can inaugurate the airport and then ramp up over the next 2 to 5 months. Runway is ready, Tower is ready.

The terminal still needs some interior work and many small details, and this leads to kind of a soft opening. It's a 40-year concession, and we are still super confident that the project is absolutely key for us financially and strategically.

And if I may, -- can I add a more general remark on Noida as this seems to be really the hot topic in our today's communication package. As Kevin has mentioned, I mean, building a greenfield airport in India was like a huge adventure to us at the beginning with a very tight schedule from the beginning, which we had a lot of respect.

We had COVID in between, which we also managed quite well in my view. And whatever belongs to the main assumption of the business plan, be it the capacity, the demand, et cetera, the financing, everything has been confirmed or was even better than on the initial assumptions when we had set the business plan for our investment decisions.

And same is true now for the next months. We're talking about a 40-year concession where we are fully convinced that our assumptions are at least on the conservative side.

We have also accelerated additional aircraft stands from the second phase already at the end of the first phase because simply we see a strong demand there. And overall, okay, we will have like a slight delay now in the opening.

But from the investors' perspective, given this 40-year concession and the privilege, I would really call it a privilege to operate the second capital airport in India.

We have received a number of questions on the guidance, especially on traffic. This looks a bit conservative.

So capacity planned by airlines for the first 9 months is up 6%. And Lufthansa just yesterday provided guidance for plus 4% for the whole group.

So what could potentially hold traffic back in Zurich? Do we expect to see any decline in the seat load factor or what else?

If I may start, I mean, we do not have a demand issue here in Zurich Airport. It's more a supply issue.

People want to travel and seat load factors are still very high. So the latest forecast we made and which is also part of the guidance we have today is based on the potential our carriers here see at Zurich Airport.

We would be happy if it would be more than the 32 million. And there are maybe some signs that it could be more.

But right now, we rely our forecast or our guidance on what is -- what seems to be the most realistic based on the inverse we get from our airline partners.

And Swiss might not be the airline within the Lufthansa Group that has the strongest growth this year. This is also several issues, for example, the engine situation.

Swiss has a lot of these Pratt & Whitney engines, which is still something that they compensate with wet lease. But I don't think that Swiss will have like the same growth than the Lufthansa Group overall.

Nevertheless, we are at the beginning of the year. Capacity is there.

Demand is high. If there's a need of adapting the guidance during the year, we will obviously do.

Another one on the guidance this time for the investments. We are guiding for CapEx of CHF 300 million to CHF 350 million a year, which is -- might be even a bit higher than what we spent in 2024.

What should we expect going forward in terms of investments at Zurich Airport? Has anything changed compared to previous communications?

No, nothing has changed. There might be a bit of a phasing of Noida.

But here in Zurich, as we also communicated in the past, we expect also going forward, roughly CHF 300 million of investments per year here at Zurich Airport. And obviously, this year, another CHF 300 million for the finishing of Noida and other rather small projects we have at our subsidiaries.

And the amount of CapEx that we could spend is limited given the numbers of engineers we have, given everything what we are doing is under the normal operation of the airport. So even technically, we are not in a position of doubling CapEx in Zurich as is simply not possible.

We have also in the past, we had like one large project after each other. This comes a little bit in cycles, but on the sustainable level that Kevin has mentioned.

A related question on the investments outside of Zurich. So the balance sheet has lots of room.

And are there any plans for new projects abroad besides the second phase of Noida?

Not for the time being. We focus clearly all forces now on Noida.

We are honestly not involved in any other meaningful projects for the time being. But if when Noida is in operation, we are still committed to our focus areas, Latin America, India.

India will have like a strong pipeline of new airports, but one thing after the other. But those remain interesting markets.

And we find -- if we find like the right project in the right niches, then we will have a look at it, but not in an accelerated way.

Then we do have a few questions on the costs regarding 2025. Could you please elaborate the moving parts?

So where do we expect to see increasing costs?

Maybe first to repeat what I said before, we have seen a significant slowdown of cost growth in the second half of 2024. In 2025, we do have some volume effects, which drive costs, more passengers, more cost than on the security control.

We have some rather small adjustments on the headcount in order to cope with the traffic, for instance, bus drivers. As I mentioned, we do invest in our labor force, specifically on shift workers.

And then we have the Noida opening. So those are the main moving parts.

But I think we said that also at the half year results, our goal is to create economies of scale going forward. And this should the latest be 2026, but we also see here in Zurich a clear path of significant slowdown in growth.

The next question is on Noida. What's the latest in terms of the regulatory approval?

What time line do you have in mind for obtaining the aerodrome license and airline slot allocation?

We should expect the license in the next couple of weeks. That's also the talks we have and which makes it a bit difficult to specifically say when the inauguration date will be.

Regarding the tariffs, we handed in the fee application at the end of 2023, and the process is still ongoing. We expect the temporary decision, so ad hoc tariffs by the regulator before the start of operation.

Our goal is to be as close as what we should have then as the final tariffs.

And also on Noida for the 2025 financials, what to expect in terms of depreciation and interest costs?

We expect with respect to interest payments, CHF 40 million for the full year and roughly CHF 25 million in depreciation on a yearly basis.

Another one on Noida, the traffic forecast. So how much passengers to be expected for the financial year 2025 and 2026?

For the Swiss fiscal year, we expect 1 million to 1.5 million passengers, and then it should be up to 8 million passengers for 2026.

And when do you expect the Phase 2 of Noida Airport to happen? And are there any ideas on how to finance this next phase?

I mean right now, the focus is clearly on opening the airport. So Phase 1, Lukas mentioned, we are building some additional stands.

That's kind of a pre-investment in Phase 2. But as soon as it's open, we will tackle also the way how we are going to finance it.

I think we are in a very strong position. There are different alternatives to tackle it with a partner doing it on our own, but that's something we will elaborate as soon as we have opened the airport and it's fully operational.

Coming back to Zurich on the expansion of the landside area. According to the presentation, it looks like the headwinds to commercial revenues might be even higher in 2025 and 2026 compared to last year.

Any thoughts on this?

Well, that's true, as long as it belongs to really the construction work. We are today in the marketing of the new space already for the projects for the new additional commercial space.

And we see a very good and strong demand. Why?

With the high frequencies that we have at the airport, the airport itself remains attractive for commercial business. And same is true for food and beverage, which even overperformed over the last year.

But there will be a construction impact, but before you can create something of -- something which is new and of new beauty, you have to do like this construction work. So everything according to plan.

Maybe to add there, I mean, we already had some effects on our P&L in 2024. And we will also have some in 2025 and 2026, but that's in the mid-single-digit million range.

So not a huge effect that's caused by the closures we face while as just Lukas mentioned, constructing the new world of the ELP project.

Next one is on real estate revenues for 2025. why do you expect a lower contribution from energy and utility cost allocation?

Are energy prices not rising these days?

We purchased almost 100% of our electricity volumes we need in advance. So therefore, we do not see a significant risk that this might turn on the other side.

And 50% of all the electricity costs that we have in our P&L in the OpEx are pass-through. So even if we're facing as we have seen it over the last year, increasing costs, 50% is always a pass-through to tenants.

And a quick one on The Circle. How much contribution to revenue and EBITDA for 2024?

That's CHF 30 million in revenues, CHF 25 million in EBITDA for our share of 51%.

Next one is again on Noida. We are now guiding for a neutral EBITDA contribution this year.

What would have been the guidance without the 2-month delay?

That's pretty much the same, also neutral.

And then a question related to the dividend, the new updated dividend policy. Is there any likelihood of net debt-to-EBITDA going beyond 2.5x in the next couple of years?

If you look at our midterm business plan and our leverage ratios we projected in there. And let's say, in absence of any major M&A transaction, we believe we will be below the 2.5 leverage ratio.

So there is quite a high chance that we pay out 75% over the upcoming years.

The way we think the new dividend policy is we are now going a step to a significant higher payout rather to the higher end. But if something happened as a disruptive event, then we now have like the option of at least maintaining the 50% as like granted and -- but having like this variable component of 25% as Kevin has mentioned from today's perspective, according to our planning, we expect to pay out the 75% going forward.

Following up on the opening of Noida, is there any risk to see further delays?

Always a risk of further delay, of course, but that's now the actual planning, and this is based on a higher confidence level.

And given the delay, are there financial penalties to pay?

There are actually financial penalties to pay that's approximately CHF 300,000 per month, so CHF 10,000 per day, but we can contractually pass them on to Tata who is constructing the airport for us. That's part of the contract we signed with them.

Now switching to Latin America. Could you comment on your plans for your holdings in Latin America?

Wouldn't it make eventually sense to sell them or partner with an infra fund to realize the full value of these holdings?

It's an interesting question, of course, always depending on the price, there's a different answer to that question. What we have done over the last couple of years is we really made like an active portfolio management, whereas the majority of our holdings in Latin America belong to ourselves by 100%.

And this serves more flexibility for the future to think about how to develop this portfolio, whether with a partner or not. We are not in -- we see a strong demand, first of all, from the market to partner in these long-term assets, especially as these are now derisked.

Every CapEx is done on the existing airports. And this will be a question to us, which we are currently not actively pursue, but for the -- I would say, for the next couple of years when also Noida is open to assess whether we want to develop the international portfolio by ourselves or together with the right partner.

This depends, from my view, mainly on a good governance with this partner as we, for example, have in The Circle with Swiss Life as a joint venture and depending on the price, but I personally think that this might be one part of creating value out of the international portfolio. That's the way how we look at it from a strategic point of view and on a strategic perspective.

Then we have a question on the noise charges. Towards the end of last year, we communicated that we intend to increase the noise charges.

Any idea of -- on the revenue impact of such an increase?

Yes. The history or the story about that is that we are having like higher charges on flights in the last 30 minutes of our operating hours, just to give an incentive to the airline to reduce the number of flights after 11:00 in the evening.

Therefore, we increased the tariffs after 11:00 and after 11:15 as a further step. This contribute about CHF 15 million to CHF 20 million additional revenues, but this is something that goes into the overall part of regulated returns.

So when we have like the next tariff negotiation, this will be neutralized within the regulated return. It's more an incentive on the noise topic than something that we are really creating value with.

Next one is on the spend per passenger. What should we expect in terms of spend per passenger once the landside works are completed?

In the spend per pax, we communicate that's only focusing on airside because what we do on landside, that's simply a different dynamic. A lot of people are using the airport for commuting.

We have more than 150,000 people using the airport on a daily basis. A lot of people working here, 300 different companies at the airport, 35,000 employees and the majority of them are using the landside shopping to eat and shop in the morning or in the evening or at lunch.

So that's a different dynamic.

The next one is on the connectivity of Noida Airport. The first one is the access road from the Yamuna Expressway ready?

And the second one, how about connectivity with public transportation, in particular, the high-speed rail service?

First question, yes, connection to the Yamuna highway that connects Delhi to Agra is ready by the opening that was under the responsibility of the state, but it's done. And the second thing in terms of public transportation, we will firstly operate with buses.

So all this is also set by contracts that we have signed with the operator. And the state is also constructing an extension of an existing train line to the airport, but this will not be ready by the opening, but there's a project driven by the state of connecting Noida Airport also to the train network that connects Noida Airport to the city center of Delhi.

Then a question related to Antofagasta. We are about to hand back this concession in 2026.

So what will be the impact on revenue once this concession will be gone?

That's approximately CHF 6 million to CHF 7 million per year. And EBIT contribution was lower than CHF 2 million in the 2024 year.

Then again, on the guidance, we had kind of long-term guidance during the COVID year saying that by 2025, we will have an incremental EBITDA of CHF 100 million. Now we've nearly achieved this target.

However, guidance for this year now is flat. So what's missing to really achieve the CHF 100 million target?

We expect that we -- on a rolling basis that in Q1, we can reach those CHF 100 million bridge to the 2019 levels. We also discussed we should do a new guidance.

But right now, there are some things in the limbo, tariffs, opening of Noida. And that's why we want to wait at least until the end of this year and then discuss again if there should be another kind of midterm guidance going forward.

Next, we have a question on the charges here in Zurich. What is your view, what should be assumed in terms of a fair regulated WACC here in Zurich, which currently sits at 5%?

We -- for technical reason, we answered this question in the past in the half year result and the conferences before. For technical reason, we are not commenting now as we are now really starting the negotiations.

And we don't want to have any numbers set in the public. But that's more for technical reason, if you're listening for a longer period to us, you know our opinion on that.

Then we have another question on Noida, which refers to the longer-term business plan or what we've disclosed during the CMD in 2023. So are the medium- to longer-term assumptions still accurate?

And are the CHF 750 million CapEx, is it still the right number for Phase 1?

The second question, definitely, yes, those are still valid to CHF 750 million for Phase 1. And also the business plan itself, I mean, we do have obviously a bit of shifts, but it's a 40-year concession.

And the figures we have in there are still valid.

Then we've been talking about the tailwind we've had in Florianópolis because of the closure of a nearby airport. Any idea on what might be the impact as the airport has now reopened again?

It's a bit difficult to quantify precisely what the effect of Porto Alegre was. But as soon as it went open again, we do still see some shifts -- positive shifts when we compare month-to-month.

And what we also achieved in 2024 is that Florianópolis Airport is the third largest with respect to international connections. So we had quite a good organic growth.

And we expect, therefore, that we can continue with the same and obviously, not with the same growth numbers we have seen in this specific year, but there will be some permanent positive effects.

And you see actually the Porto Alegre effect quite clear in the chart on the presentation on Slide 17. If you compare it to the numbers of 2023, you can roughly estimate what this impact was.

Now we've already talked about the additional depreciation and financing costs for Noida. There's now a related question whether or not this will depend on the opening date.

Yes, correct, at least for the numbers this year. The later we would open, the lower is the P&L effect for 2025.

And the number, Kevin has mentioned, was like the full year effect of financing costs and depreciation. And obviously, depending of the opening, this will have an effect on the financial year 2025.

And for the new dividend policy, you are saying that we consider the net profit, excluding one-offs? So if we were to bring in a partner into Noida and cash in some money, would we then still consider paying an exceptional dividend?

Let's cross the bridge when we get there.

Okay. I think we're done with all the questions.

I hope I didn't miss anything. And in case there are any questions left, then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Okay. Thank you very much for your time, your interest.

Very, I think relatively to the other conference, there were a lot of questions. We see like the interest of your is.

I would like to close the conference with a final remark, a change that we have in the Investor Relations team. Marcel Heinzer, who most of you have come to know as a competent financial expert, will be continuing his professional career and will be our new CFO at Zurich Airport.

I'm very happy that we have been able to recruit Marcel for this important position as we have great confidence based on his excellent work in the past. Marcel will be moving to Brazil with his wife in the second quarter.

And on behalf of the whole entire management team, I would like to thank Marcel for his commitment in Zurich and the very professional support he provides to you as investors and analysts and wish him much of success in his new role. Thank you very much.

Thank you for listening. Have a good afternoon.

Thank you.

I could have just one final remark. You said the newest CFO of Zurich Airport, that would at least be news for me.

Yes.

I am sorry.

No, it's -- I also want to thank you for -- CFO for Zurich Airport Brazil. Well deserved.

We will definitely miss you here in Zurich, but all the best. for your new role in the second half of 2025.

Thank you very much for correcting me. It's really a mistake.

He's becoming our CFO at Zurich Airport, Brazil. And Kevin remains our CFO at Zurich Airport Group.

Thank you.

Thank you.