Fraport secures 41.9 mln euros Manila compensation

FRANKFURT, April 17 (Reuters) - Frankfurt airport operator Fraport (FRAG.DE) will receive a further 41.9 million euros ($66.3 million) in compensation for a failed airport terminal project in Manila, the company said.

The payment is expected to be made in three months by the German government under a state guarantee programme for investments outside Germany and could rise by 3.9 million euros, Fraport said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Fraport added that it would continue to pursue further claims for compensation relating to the Manila project not covered by the federal government guarantee.

"This is only the first step," Fraport Chief Executive Wilhelm Bender said in the statement. "We will not accept the expropriation done and we will get our money back for our engagement in the Philippines."

Fraport headed a consortium that built and was meant to operate the new Manila terminal, which was designed to handle 13 million passengers a year and was originally set to open in late 2002.

The Philippine government seized the terminal in December 2004 in a contract dispute, triggering a compensation claim by Fraport of more than $400 million.

Fraport received an initial payment from the Philippine government of around 27 million euros in 2006, it said, after writing down all its investment in the project in 2001 and 2002. Fraport and the joint-venture company for the airport project are pursuing compensation claims against the Philippine government at national and international courts.

The airport operator added in the statement that it was examining the impact of the latest compensation payment on its financial results. (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Paul Bolding)