Malta International Airport plc - Full-Year Results
On 20 March, Malta International Airport plc published its financial statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2012.
Performance Review
During 2012, total revenue grew by 0.7% to €52.8 million reflecting the 11.9% increase in the ‘Retail and Property’ segment to €14.1 million given the good performance of the retail outlets (particularly linked with non-EU passengers) as well as the initial contribution from the recently inaugurated SkyParks Business Centre. The growth in revenue from the retail and property segment helped offset the 2.3% drop in income from the ‘Airport’ Segment given the Company’s Airline Incentive Programme which offers lower regulated fees in a bid to increase passenger numbers in the shoulder months.
MIA also benefitted from a 1.6% drop in operating expenses to €32.1 million as the early retirement schemes launched and expensed in 2011 and the increases in bad debt provision registered in the same year were not repeated during the year under review. These also offset increases in other cost items mainly including utility bills, maintenance costs and marketing fees and depreciation (following the inauguration of the SkyParks Business Centre).
Overall, MIA reported an operating profit of €20.7 million representing a 4.5% increase over the previous year’s figure.
Net finance costs increased by 30.2% to €1.5 million mainly reflecting the interest costs on the borrowings related to the SkyParks Business Centre which are now being expensed rather than being capitalised following commencement of operations in late 2012.
As a result, MIA registered a 2.9% increase in pre-tax profits to €19.5 million. After accounting for a tax charge of just over €7 million, the Group’s net profit for the year amounted to a record €12.5 million, 4.6% higher than the previous year’s comparable period. This translates into an earnings per share figure of €0.0921.
The balance sheet as at 31 December 2012 shows a 5.5% increase in total assets to €154.2 million largely reflecting the investment in the SkyParks Business Centre which has a book value of €16.9 million (2011: €9.6 million). On the other hand, net debt increased by 9.2% to €46.7 million again reflecting the debt drawn down during the year to finance the development of the Business Centre. Compared to total equity of €62.3 million, the Group’s gearing ratio stands at 75%.
Outlook
Despite the prevailing economic turmoil, especially in the Eurozone, as well as the difficult start to 2013 for many airports in Europe (as reported by the Airports Council International), MIA believes that it is well placed to meet such challenges and, excluding any unforeseen circumstances, it expects to continue to achieve positive results.
The Directors explained that the various new routes and increased frequencies already announced should contribute to a further increase in summer seat capacity despite an expected drop in the seat load factor from that achieve in 2012. In fact, earlier this year, MIA had announced that it is expecting a further 1.5% increase in passenger numbers to a new record of over 3.7 million passengers.
Dividend
The Directors proposed an unchanged final gross dividend of €0.0615 per share (net dividend of €0.04 per share) to all shareholders as at the close of trading on Tuesday 16 April. This dividend will be paid on 5 June subject to shareholders approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 21 May.
Coupled with the interim gross dividend (paid in September 2012) of €0.0462 per share, the total gross dividend with respect to the 2012 financial year amounts to €0.1077 per share which also unchanged from the dividend paid with respect to 2011. In fact, the payout ratio has reduced from 79.5% in 2011 to 76% in 2012.