Manchester Airports Group boosts profits in ‘transformational year’

AN 6.7% increase in passenger numbers and a strong performance by Manchester Airport, sent operating profits at parent company Manchester Airports Group soaring 26% to £65.5m.
 
In what Manchester Airports Group chief executive Charlie Cornish said had been a “period of transformation”, the business which is owned by the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities, said revenues in the year to the end of March had climbed 8.6% to £373.2m.

He said the past year: “has been a great start on our journey towards becoming the premier airport services business. ”
 
After one-off costs of £38.5m relating to the revaluation of Bournemouth and £4.4m from a restructuring of the business MAG’s pre tax profits were below last year’s total at £35.8m compared with £38.7m,. Underlying earnings before interest (ebitda) saw healthy growth of 13.5% to £126.9m.

Passenger numbers across the group – led by Manchester which saw a near 8% rise to 19.1 million – jumped to 24 million.
 
As well as Manchester, MAG owns East Midlands and Bournemouth Airports, and until recently  it owned Humberside Airport, which was sold to Eastern Airways for £2.3m earlier this month.

With only limited capacity for further growth, MAG decided to sell Humberside to focus on its three largest assets, and possibly add a fourth.

Chief financial officer Neil Thompson said: “We are pleased with the results in what has been a challenging environment and have out-performed the market. our trading performance was strong and we have exceeded the pretty tough targets we set ourselves as a management team.

“We have invested in the group too, in car parking, retail and of course added new routes, both short and long haul.”

Despite Bournemouth’s relative smallness of size compared to Manchester and East Midlands, Mr Thompson said it does still have growth potential and is therefore attractive.

“it’s different to Humberside, and while it has had a tough couple of years and we have taken the opportunity to write down its value, we do see it having a strong potential catchment and we see there is potential to move it forward and drive passenger volume back towards one million.”

The group accounts also include a £15.6m  non-cash impairment charge related to the value of Humberside. Including all exceptional items and interest the group posted a loss of £6.7m.
 
MAG Developments, the Group’s property and facilities management arm, which is behind the AirportCity development at Manchester, yielded a £4,.4m increase on property income to £31.4m.

Charlie Cornish, pictured,  added: “MAG has grown strongly in the year and the journey to becoming the premier airport management and services company is underway.

“Although the general economic backdrop is not favourable, the group is positioned to take advantage of airline growth opportunities, which will allow the continued out-performance of the UK passenger market, ensuring that this profitable growth drives better product offerings commercially and greater efficiencies.”