Malta International Airport plc - Interim Results

On 17 August, Malta International Airport plc published its half-year financial statements covering the six months ended 30 June 2016.

Performance Overview

During the period under review, MIA registered a 5.1% increase in revenue to a record €31.4 million (H1 2015: €29.9 million) on the back of growth in both the ‘Airport’ segment as well as the ‘Retail and Property’ segment. In fact, turnover from the ‘Airport’ segment increased by 5.7% to €21.8 million (H1 2015: €20.6 million) reflecting the 9.8% increase in passenger movements during the first six months of 2016 to nearly 2.2 million (H1 2015: 2.0 million passengers). The growth in passenger numbers is due to a 7.4% rise in seat capacity combined with a 1.8 percentage point increase in the seat load factor to 80%. MIA’s top market remained the UK, with 612,413 passenger movements (representing 28.1% of total passenger movements), followed by Italy and Germany (459,657 and 284,889 passenger movements respectively). Moreover, revenues from the ‘Retail and Property’ segment grew by 4.2% to €9.5 million (H1 2015: €9.1 million). As a result, the ‘Airport’ segment contributed 69.6% of the Group’s total revenues while the ‘Retail and Property’ segment accounted for 30.4%.

On the expenditure side, MIA reported slight increases in staff costs (+1.2%) and other operating costs (+1.8%). As a result, MIA’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 8.5% to €16.5 million (H1 2015: €15.2 million). Accordingly, the EBITDA margin improved to 52.5% from 50.8% in the first half of 2015.

During the first half of 2016, MIA’s depreciation charge increased by 7.7% to €3.4 million reflecting the larger investment programme in 2016. Meanwhile, net finance costs dropped by 32.5% to €0.47 million (H1 2015: €0.69 million), reflecting the reduced level of total bank borrowings as well as the high level of cash held the Company (€36.1 million).

Overall, during the first six months of 2016, MIA reported a pre-tax profit of €12.7 million, representing an 11.1% increase over the previous comparable figure of €11.4 million. After accounting for a tax charge of €4.5 million, the Group’s net profit for the period under review amounted to €8.2 million, representing an 11.9% increase over the profit registered during the previous comparable six months (€7.3 million).

The Statement of Financial position as at 30 June 2016 shows a marginal 0.6% growth in total assets to €172.9 million compared to the figures as at 31 December 2015, mainly reflecting the 48.1% surge in trade and other receivables which outweighed the 8.8% reduction in cash and short term deposits. Conversely, total liabilities advanced by 2.4% during the first six months of 2016 to €96.5 million following a 5.1% uplift in trade and other payables to €26.9 million as well as a €2.7 million increase in current tax liabilities. Overall, the Group’s equity base contracted by just 1.7% to €76.4 million, translating into a net asset value per share of €0.5646 (including the unlisted ‘B’ and ‘C’ class shares).

Dividend  

For the ninth consecutive year, the Directors declared an unchanged gross interim dividend of €0.0462 (net: €0.03) per share in spite of the increased profitability over the years. In fact, the pay-out ratio has now dropped below the 50% mark to 49.8% in June 2016 from 55.7% last year. Shareholders as at the close of trading on Monday 22 August will be entitled to this dividend which will be paid by not later than Friday 16 September 2016.

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Malta International Airport plc – Interim report for the six months ended 30 June 2016.