By Corina Pons
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish airport operator Aena beat forecasts on Tuesday with a near doubling in first-quarter net profit as passenger traffic to and from one of the world's most-visited countries was on course to top last year's record level.
The company, which operates all of Spain's airports as well as some in Latin America and Britain, said it made a net profit of 261 million euros ($279 million), topping analysts' average forecast of 196 million euros, according to an LSEG survey.
Net profit was 133.6 million euros in the same period last year.
The number of passengers that arrived at Aena's Spanish terminals rose 13% year-on-year in the quarter to more than 60 million. Passenger traffic across all its terminals, including London-Luton and airports in Brazil, increased 12% to 74.6 million.
Earlier this year, Aena estimated traffic would increase 7.1% in 2024, but Financial Director Ignacio Castejon said on Tuesday it would now review that guidance at the end of the second quarter.
"In April we have also seen very healthy growth, although smaller than in the first months" due to Easter falling in March, Castejon told a conference call with analysts.
Spanish airlines expect a record summer and are adding 13% more seats than a year ago, confident consumers will continue to travel despite higher ticket prices and wider inflation.
Aena's passenger growth is outpacing that of other European airport operators, and the company expects to manage around one million people per day by 2026 in all its terminals.
While a 20% rise in Aena's overall first-quarter revenues to 1.2 billion euros came below the 22% forecast on average by analysts, its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 58%, well above the predicted 31%.