Key FY18 Highlights
- Group revenue stood at RM4,851.7 million, 4.3% higher than FY17
- EBITDA for the Group increased by 24.2% to RM2,383.5 million
- Group net earnings grew 202.6% to RM727.3 million
- Passenger traffic for the Group’s network of airports grew by 4.0% to 133.1 million passengers
- Malaysia Airports Board of Directors recommends a final dividend of 9 sen per share for FY18
- Twenty foreign airlines and sixty international city pairs registered double-digit growth
SEPANG – Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (the Group) reported revenue of RM4,851.7 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of RM2,383.5 million for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 (FY18). Both the Group’s revenue and EBITDA increased by 4.3% and 24.2% respectively when compared to the financial year ended 31 December 2017 (FY17). Despite the challenging operating environment, the Group achieved its headline financial Key Performance Indicators for FY18’s core EBITDA of RM2,092.0 million.
The Group’s profit before tax and zakat (PBT) grew by 130.4% to RM780.6 million while net earnings increased by 202.6% to RM727.3 million over the same period. The increase in earnings is largely attributed to the unrealised gain on the fair value of investment in GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited amounting to RM258.4 million and unrealised gain on disposal of GMR Male International Airport Limited of RM28.2 million. The Group’s core EBITDA and PBT rose by 9.6% and 48.9% to RM2,092.0 million and RM489.0 million respectively.
With the combined operating performance of Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISG), the Group’s network of airports handled 133.1 million passengers in FY18, representing a 4.0% growth over FY18.
The Board of Directors recommends a final dividend of 9 sen per share for FY18. Together with the earlier interim dividend of 5 sen per share, the total dividend for the year is 14 sen per share (FY17: 13 sen per share).
Operations Review
Passenger traffic for Malaysia operations grew by 2.5% to 99.0 million passengers in FY18, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) recorded a 2.4% growth in passenger traffic to 60.0 million passengers for the same period while other airports in Malaysia recorded an aggregate growth of 2.w6% to 39.1 million passengers.
The Group’s Malaysia operations posted revenue of RM3,548.5 million in FY18, up by 3.5% over FY17. Revenue from both aeronautical and non-aeronautical segments grew by 6.4% and 1.9% respectively. The improvement in aeronautical revenue is mainly attributable to the 4.5% rise in overall international passenger traffic, especially for airports other than KLIA, which recorded a growth of 15.2%. Owing to the stronger revenue contributions and the non-core gains, EBITDA for the Malaysia operations rose by 32.4% to RM1,489.6 million. Excluding the non-core gains, EBITDA rose by 7.5% to RM1,209.2 million.
ISG recorded 34.1 million passengers in FY18, an improvement of 8.8% over FY17. Revenue from Turkey operations for the same period rose by 6.3% to RM1,154.1 million while EBITDA for the period amounted to RM873.2 million or 11.8% higher than FY17. Revenue from the Group’s project and repair maintenance operations in Doha, Qatar increased by 8.4% to RM149.1 million in FY18.
Outlook
China and several Asian economies are projected to experience somewhat weaker growth in 2019 in the aftermath of the United States of America’s announced more restricted trade measures pairing with political uncertainties in Europe with the conclusion of BREXIT. Based on prevailing economic conditions and additional seat capacity offered by airlines, Malaysia passenger traffic in 2019 is expected to grow by 4.% with international and domestic passenger traffic growing at 2.4% and 7.6% respectively.
Meanwhile, growth for ISG is expected to be moderate at 4.3%, to be contributed mainly from Middle East, Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) and Central Eastern Europe (CEE) regions. The moderate growth is also partly due to capacity limitations pending the opening of the second runway.
Commentary
On 13 December 2018, Malaysia Airports forged ahead in its effort to become a service leader by launching the “Happy Guests, Caring Hosts’ Service Culture Transformation Programme, reaffirming our commitment to service excellence and aspirations in portraying Malaysia as a developed country with a first-world service culture.
January 2019 was a monumental month for Malaysia Airports as Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin was appointed as the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) on the 4 January 2019, after serving as the acting GCEO since June 2018. Subsequently, on 17 January 2019, Malaysia Airports appointed YBhg. Tan Sri Datuk Zainun Ali, as the Chairman of Malaysia Airports. She has held various positions in the legal and judicial service.
2019 holds the promise of being another exciting year for the Group as it remains committed in delivering world-class service qualities to its stakeholders by embedding a customer-centric culture in airport operations. This is part of our ongoing transformation as an organisation towards embracing and espousing a more people-focussed culture.