Manchester Airports Group powers to strong interim recovery
Manchester Airports Group has soared during the six months to September 30, new interim figures show today.
Parent company, Manchester Airport Group Investments Limited (MAGIL) – which encompasess Manchester Airport, East Midlands Airport and Stansted Airport – published the report which revealed a 25% boost to revenues, of £705.3m, and a sharp turnround in profits, with a pre-tax profit of £202.8m, compared with a pre-tax loss the previous year of £28.2m, as the industry continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Overall passenger numbers grew by 14.4% to 34.9 million, which comprised 16.4 million at Manchester, 15.8 million at London Stansted, and 2.7 million at East Midlands.
MAGIL said the previous year’s results were heavily impacted by a one-off adjusted item charge of £119.7m following the extinguishment of the group’s deferred debt agreement (DDA) for the exit from the Greater Manchester Pension Fund pension scheme.
Route networks continued to strengthen as airlines introduced new routes and increased capacity across the group’s airports.
In November 2023, Manchester Airports Group (MAG) received planning permission for an extension to London Stansted’s terminal, which will enhance the passenger experience and capacity to continue to grow to its permitted passenger cap of 43 million passengers per year.
Across all three airports, MAG is making the necessary investments to introduce Future Security technology in line with agreed government timescales. This will remove the need for passengers to take liquids, gels and large electrical items out of their hand luggage, significantly improving their airport experience.
In May 2023 MAGIL executed the first of two one-year extension options on its £500m revolving credit facility and a £90m liquidity facility, extending the maturity of these facilities to May 2028. The revolving credit facility remained undrawn at September 30, 2023.
In September 2023, MAG successfully secured future funding requirements by issuing an 18-year, £360m bond with a coupon of 6.125%, providing funding to repay a £360m bond due to mature in April 2024.
MAGIL’s £1.820bn of listed bonds, together with the bank facilities described above and retained cash resources of £498m as at September 30, 2023, provide it with a long term stable funding platform. MAGIL’s total net debt (financial covenant basis) was £1.325bn at September 30, 2023, which was £388.3m lower than as at March 31, 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic.
No dividend will be paid by MAHL in respect of the half year ended September 30, 2023. Dividends paid by MAHL are funded via distributions from MAGIL.
