Press­ Release

Supervisory Board Approves Annual Financial Statement of FBB / Worldwide Corona Pandemic Leads to Negative Group Result

The annual financial statement for the 2020 financial year and difficult financial situation of the airport company triggered by the corona pandemic took centre stage at the supervisory board meeting on 29 April 2021. 

The auditors presented the supervisory board with their report on the 2020 annual financial statement. In it, they certified the airport company an orderly annual financial statement that accords with the corresponding statutory regulations in a so-called unqualified opinion. They also referred to the management report, however, which clearly documents the presence of an existential risk for the future without further assistance by the partners. What is also of importance in this respect is that the partners' guarantees for 2022 are subject to a budget proviso and need to be designed in keeping with EU state aid rules. 

As with all the other German commercial airports, the significant downturn in passenger volumes since March 2020 also led to high sales losses at the airports in Tegel and Schönefeld and/or at the BER. Only roughly a quarter of the record year 2019's passenger traffic was thus registered in the year of the corona pandemic. According to the annual financial statement for 2020, the FBB's revenues fell by € 239 m last year. 

In addition to this, the airport company had to post high unscheduled write-downs for the new terminal structure to the tune of ca. € 767 m. These write-downs result from the prospect of also having to expect meagre revenues for a long time to come, even after the air traffic's recovery. Given the pandemic and construction of the BER, the Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH will still continue to depend on financial assistance from the partners for the medium term. 

According to the 2020 annual financial statement, the drop in revenues and one-time need for write-downs led to a consolidated net loss of € 1,057.9 m. The equity is largely used up because of the downturn in revenues and the write-downs. 

The management also reported countervailing savings measures to the supervisory board that have been gaining traction since the first lockdown. The FBB has thus saved € 85 m in operating expenses last year, with saving of just under € 90 m expected for this year to boot. This includes the temporary closure of terminal 5 and restriction to operating just one runway. The planned investments of € 500 m until 2025 have been reduced to € 100 m for absolutely essential measures. 

The short-time work that started in spring 2020 has also been continued. 1,600 of the approximately 2,000 employees are currently on short time altogether. In addition to which around 415 jobs are to be cut by the end of 2025, without forced redundancies. 

After the detailed introduction of last year's business development by the management and of the auditors' report, the supervisory board approved the consolidated financial statement for 2020. 

Rainer Bretschneider, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: "If we take stock of the year 2020 today, then also against the background of the great dedication of all the employees, which the supervisory board has explicitly honoured today. The current undeserved economic challenges truly do not make it easy for the airport company. We will make every effort to lead the BER project to ultimate success nonetheless." 

Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “2020 was a year with two faces: the successful opening of the BER and the financially difficult situation owed to the Covid-19 pandemic. The decades-long stable development of the capital region's traffic was brought to an abrupt halt by the corona pandemic. Instead of lowering the debt burden with growing passenger figures and markedly higher revenues, sharply plummeting passenger volumes have aggravated the financial situation and rendered it unsustainable without the partners' help. What is required now is to set the course for an economically successful future. If the holiday traffic picks up in the summer, it could provide the long-desired light at the end of the tunnel."