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Schiphol Group: strong rise in net result for the first half of 2007, chiefly due to results from real estate projects(Hugin Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Schiphol, 23 August 2007 The net result reported by Schiphol Group, including fair value gains on property, for the first half of 2007 was up by 62.3% compared with the corresponding period in 2006, from EUR 88.0 million to EUR 142.8 million. Excluding fair value gains on property amounting to EUR 45.3 million, the net result rose by 42.3%, from EUR 76.6 million to EUR 109.1 million. 70% of these fair value gains are related to the development, purchase and renovation of property and 30% are linked to fair value gains on the existing property portfolio. Excluding fair value gains on the property portfolio and excluding a non-recurring tax credit of EUR 12.7 million arising from the provisional settlement of the tax return for 2004, the net result rose by 25.8%, from EUR 76.6 million to EUR 96.4 million. Schiphol Group's revenue for the first half of 2007 increased by 11.4%, from EUR 486.0 million to EUR 541.4 million. The operating result rose by 28.7%, from EUR 139.4 million to EUR 179.3 million. EBITDA increased by 19.8%, from EUR 221.4 million to EUR 265.2 million. Earnings per share rose by 62.3%, from EUR 514 to EUR 834. Summary of main business results The number of passengers using Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam Airport and Eindhoven Airport rose by 4.7% to 23.6 million, of whom 22.4 million travelled through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (3.9%). The costs of the government imposed security measures at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol increased by EUR 3.2 million (3.3%) to EUR 101.0 million. The revenue from the Security Service Charge in the first half of 2007 lagged behind by EUR 0.5 million. The Consumers business area saw a decline in average expenditure in the See Buy Fly shops at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol from EUR 17.09 to EUR 16.55 per international departing passenger, due in part to the measures concerning liquids and gels. The Real Estate business area reported a sharp increase in fair value gains on property from EUR 16.1 million in 2006 to EUR 45.3 million, chiefly due to development, purchases and renovation of property within the portfolio. The international activities of the Alliances & Participations business area contributed EUR 11.2 million to the result before tax for Schiphol Group in the form of interest income and dividends (first half of 2006: EUR 6.9 million). Gerlach Cerfontaine, President & CEO of Schiphol Group, commented: "We are pleased with the financial results achieved in the first half of 2007. Once again, the AirportCity concept has proved its worth. We will continue to develop and expand this concept. We are maintaining our expectation that for the full year 2007, the number of passengers at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol will increase by approximately 4%." This release may contain certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Schiphol Group and certain of the plans and objectives of Schiphol Group with respect to these items. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and there are many factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements and forecasts are based upon current data and historical experience which are not necessarily indicative of future outcomes or the financial performance of Schiphol Group and should not be considered in isolation. This is an English translation of the Dutch version of Schiphol Group's 2007 interim results. In the event of any disparity between the Dutch original and this translation, the Dutch text will prevail. Key figures EUR million unless stated otherwise HY 07 HY 06 +/- 2006 Revenue 541.4 486.0 11.4% 1,037 Result from sales of property 2.8 0.0 - 10 Fair value gains on property 45.3 16.1 180.6% 29 Operating expenses 410.1 362.7 13.1% 759 Operating result 179.3 139.4 28.7% 316 Result before tax 173.2 124.1 39.6% 291 Net result (result attributable to shareholders) 142.8 88.0 62.3% 527 Net result excl. fair value gains on property 1) 109.1 76.6 43.3% 198 Depreciation, amortisation and impairment 85.9 82.0 4.8% 162 EBITDA 2) 265.2 221.4 19.8% 478 Investments in intangible assets and property, plant & equipment 180.4 103.7 74.0% 260 Cash flow from operating activities 3) 139.8 116.5 20.0% 362 Ratios Leverage 4) as at 30 June 23.3% 28.8% 24.8% FFO interest coverage 5) 5.4x 5.1x 8.1x Earnings per share 834 514 62.3% 3.077 Business volume (in numbers) Air transport movements 6) 227,089 214,993 5.6% 450,166 Passenger movements (x 1,000) 6) 23,623 22,571 4.7% 48,287 Cargo (x 1,000 ton) 6) 765 739 3.6% 1,527 Average effective work force based on FTEs 2,446 2,266 7.9% 2,293 1) 2006 does not include non-recurring income arising from the opening balance for tax purposes of EUR 309 million 2) EBITDA: operating result plus depreciation, amortisation and impairment 3) See cash flow statement for details 4) Leverage: interest-bearing debt / (total equity + interest-bearing debt) 5) (Cash flow from operational activities corrected for operating capital plus gross interest expenses) / gross interest expenses 6) Concerns Schiphol Group: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam Airport and Eindhoven Airport Click the link below to view the full press release, including the balance sheet, profit and loss account, statement of changes in shareholders' equity and cash flow statement Schiphol Group full interim report Revenue The revenue reported by Schiphol Group for the first half of 2007 amounted to EUR 541.4 million. Compared to the EUR 486.0 million achieved during the corresponding period in 2006, this represented an increase of 11.4%. The revenue is divided among the four business areas as follows: EUR million HY 07 HY 06 +/- 2006 Aviation 306.9 294.2 4.3% 631 Consumers 140.0 109.5 27.9% 231 Real Estate 61.0 52.4 16.4% 109 Alliances & Participations 33.5 29.9 12.0% 66 Revenue 541.4 486.0 11.4% 1,037 The revenue generated by the Consumers business area in particular showed a considerable increase. With effect from 2007, this figure includes the revenue from the sales of liquor and tobacco in the shops taken over from KLM as at 3 January. This revenue amounted to EUR 30.8 million in the first half of 2007. Other property results The other property-related results amounted to EUR 48.1 million, representing an increase of EUR 31.9 million compared with the first half of 2006. This was due to higher fair value gains on property in 2007 and the sale of the Flight Square office building in Eindhoven. Operating expenses The operating expenses for the first half of 2007 were up by 13.1% to EUR 410.1 million. Total costs of outsourced work and external charges rose by 16.7% from EUR 199.8 tot EUR 233.1 million. With effect from 2007, the cost price of sales for liquor and tobacco is a part of this item (EUR 19.0 million in the first half of 2007). In addition, there were higher security costs at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. For the first half of 2007, spending on security at Schiphol amounted to EUR 101.0 million. Compared with the corresponding period in 2006, this represents an increase of EUR 3.2 million (+3.3%). The remaining increase was due to higher costs of working for third parties and the insourcing of external personnel, higher commercial costs (in connection with the liquids and gels measures and the airline reward programme), higher consultancy costs (in connection with the Six Sigma programme) and higher investment-related expenses; Employee benefits rose by 11.7%, from EUR 75.7 million to EUR 84.5 million, partly as a result of the increase compared to 2006 of the average number of staff members by 180 FTEs (7.9%) to 2,446 FTEs in 2007. Part of this increase (more than 100 FTEs) is related to the takeover of the liquor and tobacco retail activities from KLM as at 3 January 2007. Furthermore, the increase in employee benefits was due in part to the new collective labour agreement concluded in the spring of 2007; Depreciation and amortisation charges were up by 4.8%, from EUR 82.0 to EUR 85.9 million, primarily resulting from higher amortisation on contract-related intangible assets and automated applications, along with additional depreciation on runways; Other operating expenses increased by EUR 1.4 million, from EUR 5.3 to EUR 6.7 million. Operating result The operating result for the first half of 2007 was up by 28.7%, from EUR 139.4 million to EUR 179.3 million. EBITDA (the operating result after depreciation, amortisation and impairment) amounted to EUR 265.2 million, compared to EUR 221.4 million for 2006. The 11.4% revenue increase is lower than the rise in operating costs, which amounted to 13.1%. The liquor and tobacco retail activities have a lower margin than the existing activities of the Consumers business area. Furthermore, in the Real Estate business area both the revenue and costs of low margin work for third parties (tenants) increased. If adjusted to account for these effects, the revenue grew 1.0% more than the operating expenses. Financial income and expenses Net financial income and expenses (net expense) for the first half of 2007 came in at EUR 14.5 million, compared to EUR 20.0 million for the corresponding period in 2006. The first half of 2006 still showed negative translation differences amounting to EUR 3.4 million on amounts owed by associated companies (Brisbane Airport Corporation Ltd). This exchange risk was hedged with effect from September 2006 with the help of a forward exchange transaction. Furthermore, in 2007, an additional amount of EUR 1.0 million in construction period interest was capitalised on investment projects. Net result For the first half of 2007, the net result of Schiphol Group rose by 62.3%, from EUR 88.0 million to EUR 142.8 million. This increase can be attributed in part to the rise of fair value gains on the group's property portfolio, from EUR 11.4 million after tax in 2006 to EUR 33.7 million in 2007 (before tax, EUR 16.1 million and EUR 45.3 million respectively). In addition, a non-recurring tax credit of EUR 12.7 million is accounted for in the net result, arising from the provisional settlement of the tax return for 2004. Excluding the fair value gains on property and the non-recurring tax credit, net result rose by 25.8%, from EUR 76.6 million to EUR 96.4 million. The remaining difference is largely accounted for by the one-off higher costs made last year related to aeration of the drainage ditches (EUR 4.7 million), lower financial expenses (EUR 5.6 million), improved share in results of associates (EUR 3.6 million) and a decrease in the corporate tax rate from 29.6% in 2006 to 25.5% in 2007 (EUR 5.1 million). Prospects Due to good results from the property portfolio, the Board of Management expects the net result for the year 2007, excluding non-recurring income arising from the settlement of the tax return for 2004 to be 20-25% higher compared to the net result in 2006, excluding the non-recurring positive result arising from the finalisation of the opening balance for tax purposes in 2006. Schiphol Group's Board of Management is maintaining its profit projection contained in the 2006 annual report. The net result for the whole of 2007, is expected to show an increase of 5-10% on 2006, excluding fair value gains of the property portfolio and excluding the aforementioned non-recurring income from tax gains. The investment level for 2007 is expected to be higher than the previously estimated amount of EUR 370 million. The higher investment level is linked to investments in the baggage systems, property, and contract-related intangible fixed assets. Developments in the individual business areas Aviation The Aviation business area is active solely at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Aviation provides services and facilities to airlines, passengers and handling agents. The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) regulates the charges which are levied and sets limits on the returns generated. Sources of revenue: airport charges (aircraft, passenger and security charges) and concession fees (paid by oil companies for the right to provide aircraft refuelling services). In the first half of 2007, the business area accounted for 56.7% of Schiphol Group's revenues and 16.9% of the operating result. EUR million HY 07 HY 06 +/- 2006 Revenue 306.9 294.2 4.3% 631 Operating expenses 276.6 267.0 3.6% 558 EBITDA 92.3 86.0 7.3% 190 Operating result 30.4 27.2 11.6% 73 Investments in intangible assets and property, plant & equipment 79.5 73.0 8.9% 173 In the first six months of 2007, the revenue reported by Aviation rose by 4.3% to EUR 306.9 million, due mainly to a 5.1% increase in revenue from airport charges to EUR 297.5 million. Of this increase, 3.6% is the result of an increase in the number of passengers (by 3.9% to 22.4 million) and the number of air transport movements (by 5.2% to 212,704). These developments were partially cancelled out by a 1.4% drop in the average MTOW, from 98.6 to 97.3 tonnes, a consequence of the use of smaller aircraft on average. The remaining 1.5% of the higher income from airport charges was due to an increase as at 1 April 2006 of aircraft-related fees (by an average of 2%), passenger-related fees (by 2%) and the Security Service Charge (by 7.4%). Thanks in part to the charge increase of the Security Service Charge, the loss from security activities in the first six months of 2007 only amounted to EUR 0.5 million, compared to a loss of EUR 3.9 million for the corresponding period in 2006. Operating expenses rose by 3.6% to EUR 276.6 million. Apart from security, the costs of hired and company staff and the costs of major maintenance and depreciation also rose, partly in connection with the problems in late 2006 with the top layer of Runway 18L-36R (Aalsmeer runway). The mild winter led to lower costs related to winter weather countermeasures, and, in contrast to 2006, limited costs with respect to the aeration of drainage ditches. The business area saw the costs per workload unit (WLU), a measure of efficiency, increase marginally by 0.3% in the first half of 2007 compared with the first half of 2006, reaching a figure of EUR 9.25. One WLU equals one passenger or 100 kg cargo. Investment in property, plant and equipment at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the first half of 2007 totalled EUR 79.5 million, including new baggage handling facilities (an increase in capacity and screening equipment for hand baggage), Lounge 1, the Rinse Hofstra ring road and fire safety. Runway 18L-36R (Aalsmeer runway) was given a new top layer, and major repairs were carried out on the 18R-36L (Polder runway). The first half of 2007 saw the start of a pilot programme where travellers can scan their passports themselves. Also, the security scan was used to screen passengers for the first time. Using the security scan reduces the number of manual searches. As in the previous year, out of the four largest European airports Schiphol had the lowest IR rate - the percentage of baggage items that do not arrive at the destination at the same time as the passenger - for the first six months of the year. Punctuality for arrivals lagged behind in the first six months of 2007, with a figure of 80.8% compared to 82.0% in 2006; for departures, punctuality fell by 2.8 percentage points to 71.9%. This is due mainly to bad weather in the month of June. Regulatory Developments In April, the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) approved the allocation system proposed by Schiphol Group relating to assets, expenses and revenues, for the determination of the aviation-related charges at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The system was in part used to establish the charges that will be effective from 1 November 2007. Airlines lodged objections to both the Allocation system as well as to the aforementioned airport charges. The charges will increase for noisy aircraft, night flights and transfer passengers; the charges will decrease for quieter aircraft and passengers boarding locally. The net effect of the charge increase and decrease will be nil, if the traffic volume remains unchanged. Consumers The activities of the Consumers business area concern the operation of shops and car parks, the granting of concessions (including shops, bar and restaurant facilities) and the marketing of advertising opportunities at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The Consumers business area also has activities outside the Netherlands involving amongst others the operation of retail outlets via management contracts. Sources of revenue: retail sales, parking charges, concession fees, advertising and management fees. In the first half of 2007, the business area accounted for 25.9% of Schiphol Group's revenue and 36.4% of the operating result. EUR million HY 07 HY 06 +/- 2006 Revenue 140.0 109.5 27.8% 231 Operating expenses 74.7 45.4 64.5% 94 EBITDA 75.9 72.0 5.4% 151 Operating result 65.3 64.1 1.9% 136 Investments in intangible assets and property, plant & equipment 35.4 5.2 579.1% 12 In the first six months of 2007, revenue rose by 30.5 million (27.8%) to EUR 140.0 million. With effect from 2007, this includes the revenue from retail sales of liquor and tobacco in the shops taken over from KLM as at 3 January 2007. Until the end of 2006, these revenues were earned by KLM based upon which the Consumers business area received a concession fee. Concession income fell due to this acquisition, and also because of security measures with respect to liquids and gels. Higher income from other concessions (bars and restaurants and other shops) compensated in part for this drop. The average See Buy Fly spending per international departing passenger at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol decreased by 3.2% in the first half year, from EUR 17.09 to EUR 16.55. In the first half of 2007, a new sealable plastic bag was introduced, which made it possible to terminate the gate delivery system implemented in 2006. Income generated from parking at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol increased by 6%, or EUR 2.1 million, to EUR 37.8 million, partly owing to more people parking and a longer average parking duration. Parking revenues per passenger, excluding transfer passengers, rose by 1.0%, from EUR 2.89 in 2006 to EUR 2.92 in 2007. Operating expenses increased, due in part to the cost price and other expenses related to the liquor and tobacco activities, and because of higher commercial costs in connection with the measures relating to liquids and gels. In the first half of 2007, the operating result rose by 1.9% to EUR 65.3 million. The 27.8% revenue increase lagged behind the 64.5% increase in operating expenses. The margin of the liquor and tobacco activities is lower than that of the existing activities of the Consumer business area. The business area's investments in intangible assets and plant, property and equipment in the first six months of 2007 totalled EUR 35.4 million. Investments included contract-related intangible fixed assets (in connection with the takeover of the retail activities for liquor and tobacco) and in the expansion of long stay parking facilities. The first Starbucks location in the Netherlands was opened in the area beyond Passport Control. In addition, Schiphol Plaza saw the opening of an America Today shop and the Airport Business Point. The latter is a comfortable lounge where business people can relax after they arrive while they wait for their driver. The Privium programme, which employs iris recognition to enable frequent travellers to quickly pass the border, was introduced at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in 2001. This programme now has nearly 38,000 members; over 8,000 more than at the end of the first half of 2006. New cooperation agreements In March 2007, Schiphol Group and Guangdong airport in Guangzhou, China signed an agreement for the development of commercial retail activities and bar and restaurant facilities at the airport in Guangzhou. Based on a business plan, the parties intend to create a long-term alliance for non-aviation activities at the airport in Guangzhou. On 3 May 2007, Schiphol Group and The Nuance Group AG signed a letter of intent to establish a joint venture, which will encompass Schiphol Group's liquor and tobacco concession and The Nuance Group AG's chocolate shops. Real Estate The Real Estate business area develops, manages, operates and invests in property at and around airports at home and abroad. The greater part of the portfolio, comprising both airport buildings and commercial properties is located on and around Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Sources of revenue: rents, including ground rents. The business area also makes a significant contribution to Schiphol Group results with the other property results (sales, release of land for development and the fair value gains or losses on property). In the first half of 2007, Real Estate accounted for 11.3% of Schiphol Group's revenues and 44.5% of the operating result. EUR million HY 07 HY 06 +/- 2006 Revenue 61.0 52.4 16.4% 109 Result from sales of property 2.8 - - 10 Fair value gains on property 45.4 16.1 181.3% 28 Operating expenses 29.1 23.2 25.7% 47 EBITDA 88.4 55.7 58.6% 120 Operating result 79.9 45.3 76.3% 101 Investments in intangible assets and property, plant & equipment 59.1 22.8 158.8% 69 Rental income rose by 8.8%, from EUR 49.6 to EUR 54.0 million, partly owing to non-recurring income of EUR 2.5 million from an early termination penalty payment of a rental contract, growth in the property portfolio (from 427,297 m2 as at December 2006 to 480,809 m2 as at June 2007) and due to an increase in the occupancy rate of the properties owned by the business area (from 92.8% as at December 2006 to 94.4% as at June 2007, excluding office buildings 70 and 72). The revenue from other activities increased from EUR 1.4 to EUR 5.4 million, primarily due to higher proceeds from work for third parties. In the first half of 2007, property was sold for an amount of EUR 8.6 million, resulting in a book profit of EUR 2.8 million. No properties were sold in the first half of 2006. The fair value gains on property rose sharply in the first half of 2007, from EUR 16.1 million in 2006 to EUR 45.4 million in 2007. This increase was thanks to the development, purchase and renovation of new properties and a rise in the appraised value of existing properties. Largely on the basis of this, the operating result of the Real Estate business area rose considerably by EUR 34.6 million to EUR 79.9 million in the first half of 2007. Excluding fair value gains on property, the operating result increased by 18.2%, from EUR 29.2 million to EUR 34.5 million. Operating expenses increased by EUR 5.9 million to EUR 29.1 million. EUR 3.1 million of this increase is due to an increase in work for third parties. These activities carry virtually no margin which therefore contributed to the lower revenue growth in relation to the increase in operating expenses. Real Estate's investments in property, plant and equipment in 2007 totalled EUR 59.1 million. This investment was mainly in the construction of a multi-tenant office building at Schiphol-Centre, which will be home to Microsoft and other companies and will have a total floor area of 32,000 m2. The construction of Cargo Building 9 at Cargo World Schiphol Southeast was completed. Menzies Aviation and Skylink, two cargo handling agents, lease 75% of this building. The remaining 25% was leased to World Flight Services with effect from July 2007. The building has a warehouse area of 24,600 m2 and 3,900 m2 of office space. Real Estate also purchased two cargo buildings at Schiphol-South. A contract was concluded with Panalpina, one of the world's largest logistics service providers, for the development of a cargo building on the apron at Schiphol-Southeast, consisting of a warehouse of 10,000 m and 2,000 m of office space. At Malpensa Airport in Italy, construction was completed on a second-line cargo building with an area of 12,000 m at the Avioport Logistics Park. This building has been leased in full to Agusta Westland. Alliances & Participations The task of the Alliances & Participations business area is to roll out the AirportCity formula internationally. Alliances & Participations consists of Schiphol Group's interests in the domestic airports, airports abroad and other investments. Sources of revenue from domestic airports: mainly airport charges and parking fees. The airports abroad contribute to group results through performance fees and dividends as accounted for in share in results, the interest they pay on loans and through Intellectual Property fees. The other investments include Schiphol Telematics and Utilities. Schiphol Telematics provides telecom services at and around the airport. The Utility activities generate revenue from the transport of electricity and gas and from the supply of water. In the first half of 2007, the business area accounted for 6.2% of Schiphol Group's revenue and 2.2% of the operating result. By applying the equity accounting method, changes in the market value of the investments are not reflected in the results. EUR million HY 07 HY 06 +/- 2006 Revenue 33.5 29.9 12.0% 66 Fair value gains on property -0.1 - - - Operating expenses 29.7 27.2 9.5% 61 EBITDA 8.7 7.6 14.4% 17 Operating result 3.8 2.8 37.1% 6 Investments in intangible assets and property, plant & equipment 6.4 2.7 137.7% 6 Domestic airports Both Rotterdam Airport and Eindhoven Airport achieved higher revenue from airport charges, Rotterdam mainly due to an increase in the charges as at 1 April 2007 and Eindhoven primarily because of a sharp rise in the number of passengers. Both airports also saw growth in their revenue from parking. The operating result of Eindhoven Airport remained at the same level as in 2006, owing to increasing costs and some non-recurring costs. Rotterdam Airport, however, saw a rise in its operating result. Passenger numbers at Eindhoven Airport grew by 40.0% in the first half of the year, to more than 710,000, primarily due to the addition of four new low-cost destinations. The number of passengers at Rotterdam Airport was up by 1.2% in the first half of 2007 (from 516,000 in 2006 to 522,000 in 2007). The Lelystad Municipal Council agreed to a proposal from the Municipal Executive to endorse the growth of Lelystad Airport to a maximum of 4 million passengers annually. The Environmental Impact Assessment for extending the runway to 2,100 metres and using the airport for commercial traffic was accepted by the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management in June. International airports The international activities of the business area contributed a total of EUR 11.2 million in the form of interest income and dividends to Schiphol Group's result before tax (first half of 2006: EUR 6.9 million). The biggest contribution was made by Brisbane Airport (EUR 10.1 million). This includes an extra dividend payment of EUR 3.1 million resulting from a non-recurring tax benefit. The number of passengers using Terminal 4 at JFK Airport, New York, in the first six months of 2007 rose by 17.3% to 4.1 million. In the first six months of 2007, 8.5 million passengers travelled through Brisbane Airport; 9.1% more than in the corresponding period in 2006. Schiphol International did not succeed in establishing a strategic partnership with Nanjing Lukou International Airport in China. Part of the partnership would have involved an investment in the share capital of the airport. Nanjing ended up selecting another party. Other participations A small drop in the operating result of Utilities (by EUR 0.4 million) was compensated for by a slight increase in the operating result of Schiphol Telematics (by EUR 0.8 million). Other developments In March 2007, Schiphol Group published its Spatial Development Plan (Ruimtelijk Ontwikkelingsplan) (see www.schipholgroup.com). This plan sets out the entirety of the planned spatial programme until 2015. With this plan, Schiphol Group wants to provide clarity to the City of Haarlemmermeer, other government bodies and stakeholders about its plans for expansion in the next ten years and its underlying rationale and arguments. The Spatial Development Plan offers a basis for new zoning plans to be drawn up. In May 2007, Schiphol Group published its long-term vision under the title 'A worldwide network for a competitive Randstad' (Een wereldwijd netwerk voor een concurrerende Randstad) (see www.schipholgroup.com). This vision encompasses the middle to long-term period from 2015/2025 to 2030. Schiphol Group compiled this vision document to give shape to the Dutch government's request arising from the publication of its Standpoint on Schiphol (2006). In their paper, the Cabinet announces an exploratory exercise to clarify the options to deal with potential long-term capacity problems at main port Schiphol. In June 2007, Schiphol Nederland BV and the unions reached a final agreement on a new two-year collective labour agreement. The new agreement provides for structural wage increases of 2.75% as at 1 April 2007 and 1 April 2008. Non-recurring payments of 0.25% were also agreed on for December 2007 and December 2008. In addition, agreement was reached on the extension of the profit sharing scheme. On 5 July, the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament endorsed the "Alders table" agreement to allow Schiphol to grow to 480,000 air transport movements annually until 2010. This proposal is linked to several disturbance-reducing measures and a number of other measures to improve the quality of life around the airport. These measures are set out in two covenants, which are explained in further detail on page 17 of this press release. The Alders table is a consultative committee of local stakeholders and representatives from the aviation sector, led by the Royal Commissioner in Groningen, Hans Alders. On 13 July, the Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management and the Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment accepted the Environmental Impact Assessment (MER) for the short term (until 2010). Compiled by Schiphol Group and Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL), this MER maps out the environmental impact based on a scenario of 480,000 air transport movements that meets the criteria established by the government. On this basis, a new Airport Traffic Decision will be drawn up in the second half of 2007, which is expected to enter into force at the start of 2008. Based on this proposed resolution, the Inspectorate of Transport, Public Works and Water Management will enforce anticipatory measures regarding nuisance at the airport for the use year 2007. This means that the noise impact at the enforcement points around Schiphol will be tested against the new limits of the draft decision rather than against the 'old' limits. Credit Rating Standard & Poor's (AA- with negative outlook) and Moody's Investor Service (Aa3 with stable outlook) have reaffirmed their credit rating for NV Luchthaven Schiphol and Schiphol Nederland BV as at 20 July 2007 and 9 February 2007 respectively. Events after the balance sheet date During the first half of 2007 and shortly after the balance sheet date, a number of developments occurred with respect to the Groenenberg site. For brevity's sake, please refer to the explanation provided on page 16 of this press release. Click the link below to view the full press release, including the balance sheet, profit and loss account, statement of changes in shareholders' equity and cash flow statement http://hugin.info/132864/R/1148578/219474.pdf Copyright 2007 Hugin ASA (publisher previously given as Hugin AS, Inc) , Source: The Financial Times Limited |