Airport chiefs hail strong first half as Stansted D-Day nears
MANCHESTER Airports Group has reported solid half year results, which show it is continuing to out-perform its regional rivals.
MAG, which owns Manchester, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports, saw passenger numbers rise 2.1% to 14.6 million in the six months to the end of September 2012, which fuelled a 7.1% increase in revenues to £229.8m.
The group, which is in a bidding process to buy Stansted Airport in Essex for around £1bn, reported 1% growth in operating profit to £59.1m, while ebitda was £92.3m, up 0.4% on the previous year.
MAG chief executive Charlie Cornish, said: “I’m pleased to report strong performance for the first six months of the year in which rising passenger numbers have enabled MAG to outperform the UK regional airport market.
“Wider economic uncertainty continues to make trading conditions in the aviation sector challenging, but I am confident MAG will continue to grow by increasing commercial revenues, driving efficiencies and pursuing expansion opportunities.”
The operator said it had grown its market share 0.8% in the period to 15.9%.
Chief financial officer Neil Thompson said passenger growth had been achieved after investment in new routes, expansion with low cost carriers such as easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2 and additional parking capacity and services.
He said: “We set ourselves some tough targets 18 months ago against an economy which would not give us any help, and we beat our target last year, and are on track for this year too.
“We have continued to invest in our services and passengers have responded by using us more often. On the parking side our ‘meet and greet’ service is proving really popular, while the addition of Jo Malone, Bobbi Brown and Next to our retail offer in Manchester has been really well-received.”
Mr Thompson declined to comment on the Stansted bid situation, saying only: “If we do make an acquisition, we will be very well organised in terms of debt and equity provision and also operationally.”
According to reports, MAG and its partner, Australian investor Industry Funds Management, are locked in a two-horse race with Macquarie for Stansted, which is being sold by Heathrow plc – the new name for BAA.
According to The Telegraph, another of the suitors for Stansted, Morrison & Co, which has operations in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong has dropped out of the bidding process after failing to secure bank finance for its offer.
Final bids for the asset must be submitted by January 16.
