MAG could sell stake to fund acquisition and investment
Charlie Cornish told TheBusinessDesk.com that while MAG has been linked with bids for Glasgow and Edinburgh, his ambitions lie elsewhere, with BAA’s Stansted clearly in his sights.
He said: “We are continuing to look to see whether we can deliver shareholder value through the right opportunity. We’d want something scale-able, more akin to the size of Manchester as I believe in the long-term benefits of owning larger airports.
“If the right opportunity comes along I’d rather look south than north because if you look at the ecomomy and the recovery, it will happen quicker there than in the north.”
Mr Cornish didn’t mention Stansted by name, but it is the only asset likely to be on the market. Last July, after a lengthy investigation, the Competition Commission ordered BAA to sell Essex-based Stansted followed by either of its main Scottish airports.
The Spanish-owned company, which has already been forced to sell Gatwick Airport to meet competition rules, took the case to the Competition Appeals Tribunal last month and a decision is expected in the next three months.
Ironically Stansted was replaced by Manchester as Britain’s number three airport by passenger numbers last year.
While Manchester, benefiting from the early success of Mr Cornish’s strategy to drive growth by luring budget carriers like Ryanair, grew 6.5% to 18.8 million, Stansted’s passenger numbers fell 2.8% to 18 million.
Mr Cornish said Manchester Airports Group would meet a target of 8% ebitda growth this financial year, which he said was pleasing given the weak economic outlook and “unhelpful” aviation taxes.
“We’re expecting it to be quite challenging in 2012-13 and then getting better from 2014.”
In a statement regarding the possible sale of a stake in the business, a MAG spokesman said: “With stretching growth targets across our airport portfolio and major developments ahead, including the £650m Manchester Airport City, we are finalising a strategic review of our business with a view to realising our ambition to become the premier airport management and services company, including the option of adding a quality airport to the group.
“Like any growing business we explore all options to fund our growth plans to drive greater shareholder returns.”
As we as Manchester, MAG’s portfolio includes East Midlands and Bournemouth airports.
