1H19 Key Highlights
- Revenue stood at RM2,513.5 million, 6.0% higher than 1H18
- Core EBITDA for the Group increased by 7.4% to RM1,169.7 million
- Core net earnings increase by 26.5% to RM309.7 million
- Passenger traffic for the Group’s network of airports grew by 4.4% to 67.9 million passengers
- Langkawi International Airport received the Highly Commended recognition in the ‘Under 4 million passengers’ category at the prestigious Routes Asia 2019 Marketing Awards
- New crew processing centre at klia2 ready for ORAT and expected to halve airlines crew processing time
- Malaysia – Saudi collaboration taps into technology and eased Hajj pilgrims movement
- Declared interim dividend of 5 sen per share
SEPANG – Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (the Group) reported revenue of RM2,513.5 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of RM1,169.7 million for the financial period ended 30 June 2019 (1H19). The Group’s revenue increased by 6.0% to RM2,513.5 million on the back of higher passenger growth. Excluding the effect of non-core gains for the financial period ended 30 June 2018 (1H18), EBITDA increased by 7.4% to RM1,169.7 million. Both the Group’s profit before tax (PBT) and profit after tax (PAT) increased by 17.2% to RM366.2 million and 26.5% to RM309.7 million, respectively
Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGIA) continues to contribute a healthy EBITDA to the Group, with a growth of 16.3% in 1H19. With the combined operating performance of SGIA, the Group’s network of airports handled 67.9 million passengers in 1H19, representing a 4.4% growth over 1H18.
Proposed Dividend
In light of the Group’s half year performance, the Board of Directors declared an interim dividend of 5 sen per share for the financial year ending 31 December 2019.
Operations Review
Passenger traffic for Malaysia operations grew by 4.7% to 51.1 million passengers in 1H19. KLIA recorded a 2.1% growth in passenger traffic to 30.4 million passengers for the same period while other airports in Malaysia recorded an aggregate growth of 8.8% to 20.8 million passengers.
The Group’s Malaysia operations posted revenue of RM1,836.0 million in 1H19, up by 6.2% over 1H18. Revenue from aeronautical segments grew by 13.4% attributable to the strong overall passenger traffic growth mainly in airports other than KLIA. Non-aeronautical segment posted a small negative growth due to lower rental and retail contribution as a result of the commercial reset initiatives in 1H19.
Istanbul SGIA recorded 16.7 million passengers in 1H19, an improvement of 3.4% over 1H18, mainly contributed from strong international passenger growth of 20.8%. Revenue from Turkey operations for the same period rose by 4.4% to RM597.9 million while EBITDA for the period amounted to RM453.2 million or 16.3% higher than 1H18. Excluding construction revenue of RM68.1 million, revenue increased by 18.5%. Revenue from the Group’s project and repair maintenance operations in Doha, Qatar increased by 15.0% to RM79.6 million from RM69.2 million in the previous corresponding period.
Outlook
Malaysia traffic growth was driven predominantly by the domestic sector, partly spurred by a higher demand in air travel due to the Eid Al-Fitr holidays and summer holidays that were also supported by the higher growth in airlines seat capacity. Correction and consolidation are expected to continue while the international sector may see some improvement.
SGIA’s traffic was driven mainly by the international sector and will likely maintain its growth momentum moving forward as some major airlines shifted their focus on international routes and with new airlines have commenced operation to SGIA. Furthermore, similar to Malaysia, SGIA passenger movements was also stimulated by Eid Al-Fitr as in previous years.
In March 2019, Langkawi International Airport received the Highly Commended recognition in the ‘Under 4 million passengers’ category at the prestigious Routes Asia 2019 Marketing Awards that was held in Cebu, Philippines. The awards are widely regarded as the most valuable awards recognising outstanding marketing programmes that have supported the launch of new air routes or the development of existing services in the route development and aviation industry.
On 15 June 2019, Malaysia Airports commenced operation of its crew processing centre at klia2 which has resulted in halving the processing time for departing crew and improve the operational efficiency of airline partners at klia2. It is also expected to benefit passengers as airlines will be able to offer more routes and increase flight frequencies with the faster turnaround time. The facility is equipped with integrated immigration and customs clearance facilities that will significantly reduce the time take for the airline crew to reach the boarding gates.
Malaysia Airports, the Immigration Department of Malaysia, Lembaga Tabung Haji and the Saudi Arabian Immigration Authorities have collaborated to ease the movement and immigration processes for Malaysian Hajj pilgrims through the utilisation of automated identification and rapid data capture and relay technologies for immigration clearance at both ends, enabling the pilgrims to reach Mekah and Madinah bypassing the time delays and administrational challenges faced previously. During the 2019 /1440Hijrah Hajj Pilgrimage season, the Malaysian – Saudi Arabian collaboration handled almost 30,000 passengers going to and from Mekah and Madinah.
With the technology introduced into the collaborative effort, pilgrim waiting time at the destinations to and fro were reduced significantly by up to 60%, whilst data transmission remains secured and seamless.