Business

Saturday July 28, 2012

MAHB posts higher Q2 earnings on improved passenger traffic

By LEONG HUNG YEE
hungyee@thestar.com.my


SEPANG: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) posted a higher net profit of RM100.69mil for the second quarter ended June 30 against RM91.1mil a year ago.

The improved performance was driven by growth in passenger traffic and commercial revenue.

Its revenue rose 21.9% to RM807.8mil from RM662.7mil in the same corresponding period a year ago. Earnings per share increased to 8.32 sen in the second quarter from 8.28 sen previously.

Chief financial officer Faizal Mansor said the results were good for the first six months and the group was on track to achieve its headline key performance indicators.

“We remain cautiously optimistic about MAHB's performance for this year and expect a full-year passenger growth at 6% to 7%,” he said at a briefing to announce the group's results.

The airport operator targets to achieve RM822.mil in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and 10.42% in return on equity (ROE). In the first six months, its EBITDA stood at RM398.5mil and ROE at 4.86%.

For the six months ended June 30, MAHB net profit improved 8.7% to RM203.4mil versus RM187.2mil in the previous corresponding period. Revenue was up 14.5% to RM1.46bil while pre-tax profit increased to RM295.1bil.

As at June 30, Faizal said the group had cash balances of RM825mil.

On the losses in its associate company Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGIA), he said that operation wise, SGIA was making profit. “It will take a while. In all fairness, it has only been 1 years of operation for SGIA.”

MAHB's airport operations revenue rose 15.8% to RM1.4bil in the first six months due to higher passenger and aircraft numbers and the implementation of new rates. In its airport operations, aeronautical income increased to RM491.8mil while non-aeronautical income rose to RM479.1mil.

Total passenger volume in the first half was 32.6 million, which was 4.2% higher that the first six months of 2011. International and domestic passenger movements grew by 5% and 3.5% respectively.

Faizal said the group's construction revenue was higher in the first six months as it was mainly related to the construction of KL International Airport 2 (KLIA2).

On the cost of KLIA2, Faizal maintained that the new low-cost carriers terminal would be built at RM4bil. He also said KLIA2 was on track for completion by April 2013.

There were reports that costs could rise to RM5bil if certain parties dictated terms to MAHB to build additional facilities that were not in the current plan.

Additionally, Faizal clarified that passenger service charge (PSC) was “highly regulated” and MAHB had no decision to raise the airport taxes.

“We don't set the changes. Airport charges are highly regulated and it is up to the Government to decide,” he said, adding that the airport charges would remained as it was now when KLIA2 opened next year.

The PSC was increased in last December. The charges for departing international passengers was hiked from RM25 to RM32 at the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Sepang and Terminal 2 of Kota Kinabalu International Airport, and from RM51 to RM65 at the country's international airports.

The fees are due for next review only in 2014.

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