Malta International Airport plc - October Traffic Results & Quarterly Update

On 7 November 2023, Malta International Airport plc published the October 2023 traffic results and the financial results for the first nine months of 2023. MIA also updated its guidance for the year.

October 2023 Traffic Results

In October 2023, passenger movements exceeded their relative 2019 figures for the tenth consecutive month and amounted to 771,253 passenger movements, which is 9.6% above the comparable figure of 703,405 registered in October 2019. Passenger movements in October 2023 were 30.7% higher than the movements registered in the same month last year.

The seat load factor for October 2023 was at 84.7%, which is 2.4 percentage points higher than in October 2019, despite the fact that seat capacity was 6.4% higher when compared to 2019.

MIA stated that the most popular destinations remained Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Spain. Nonetheless, MIA noted that while Italy (+47%), France (+53%) and Spain (+3%) registered growth over 2019 levels, in contrast, UK (-17%) and Germany (-23%) fared well below 2019 levels.

The passenger movements during the ten-month period ended October 2023 amounted to 6.75 million, representing an increase of 6.4% over the corresponding period in 2019 and 35% above the passenger traffic recorded in the same period last year.

Financial Performance: January to September 2023

Revenues during the first nine months of 2023 amounted to €91.6 million, which is 37.7% higher than the comparable figure of €66.5 million in 2022, and also 18.5% above the previous record of €77.3 million generated in the first nine months of 2019.

EBITDA amounted to €59.7 million during January – September 2023 compared to €43.7 million in the same period last year. The EBITDA for the first nine months of 2023 is also 20% above the EBITDA of €49.6 million generated in the first nine months of 2019.

Overall, MIA generated a net profit of €32.3 million during January – September 2023 compared to €21.7 million in the comparable period in 2022 and €26.9 million between January – September 2019.

In terms of financial position as at 30 September 2023, when compared to 31 December 2022, total assets increased by 9.5% (or €27 million) to €312 million, which includes cash and other short term investments totalling €76 million. On the other hand, the airport operator remained free from any borrowings while MIA’s equity position strengthened by 7% (or €12 million) to €182.9 million.

Updated Key Performance Targets

Following the stronger performance during the first nine months of 2023, the airport operator issued updated targets for the second time this year. For 2023, MIA now expects:

• Passenger movements of 7.8 million compared to the August forecast of 7.2 million (2019: 7.31 million).
• Revenue of €118 million compared to the August forecast of €113 million (2019: €100.2 million).
• EBITDA of €74 million compared to the August forecast of €70 million (2019: €63.2 million).
• Net profit of €40 million compared to the previous forecast of €37 million (2019: €33.9 million).
• Capital investments of €45-50 million compared to the previous forecast of €39 million (2019: €24.9 million).