Ferrovial Belfast airport valued at £150m

The chief executive officer of George Best Belfast City Airport (BCA), owned by Spanish construction company Ferrovial, has valued the airport at around £150 million, Cinco Dias reported yesterday.

Ferrovial is considering the sale of the airport - not a part Ferrovial's main British airport operating business BAA - BCA's chief executive, Brian Ambrose, said in a statement on the airport's website. The process of deciding whether to sell could take months, he said.

A Ferrovial spokesman said the figure was a personal opinion and not an official estimate from the company.

Belfast City Airport, named after soccer player George Best who was born near the airport, handles around two million passengers every year. It was bought by Ferrovial in 2003.

Ferrovial, which diversified out of a slowing domestic construction market by buying assets such as London Heathrow owner BAA, is selling off businesses including its airport retail chain World Duty Free as it seeks to ease massive debts.

Ferrovial's consolidated debt stood at €29.2 billion in March, four times greater than its market capitalisation of €7.1 billion at Thursday's closing price.