Malta International Airport plc – Interim Directors’ Statement

Malta International Airport plc issued its Interim Directors' Statement

The Company hereby announces that during the financial year commencing on 1st January 2016 and the date of this Announcement, no material events and /or transactions have taken place that would have an impact on the financial position of the Company, such that they would require specific mention, disclosure or announcement pursuant to the applicable Listing Rules, and which have not been otherwise announced through a Company Announcement.

During the period under review, the financial position of the Company has remained sound and the performance has been much better than expected. Passenger traffic for the first four months of the year reached 1,216,133 movements to achieve an overall growth of 12.0% over the same period last year, equivalent to 129,835 additional passenger movements. This performance was a direct result of an 8.8% increase in seat capacity as aircraft movements reached a total of 9,131 or 5.7% more than last year. Despite the overall increase in seat capacity, seat load factor was sustained whilst also registering a 3.0 percentage point improvement during the first four months to reach an overall average of 78.8%.

2016 started off with a good performance having achieved a 15.5% increase in traffic during the first quarter. The turnover in the first three months was Euro 11,591,539, this is an increase of 5.1% compared to the first quarter 2015. The Profit in the first quarter increased by 7.6% to Euro 1,462,672. The attached Balance Sheet shows this positive development in the first quarter 2016. T

he start to the summer schedule was positive with April registering a growth of 5.7% as we welcome three new carriers. Volotea started operating from Catania whilst Czech Airlines and Iberia Express will be operating a limited summer schedule from Prague and Madrid respectively. Ryanair added a number of routes including two new destinations being Poznan and Baden-Baden. Air Malta will be introducing twice weekly flights to Palermo as from July whilst Aegean and Finnair are including an additional frequency to Athens and Helsinki respectively. Our connectivity to Eastern Europe will continue to improve as Wizz Air and Turkish Airlines are deploying more seat capacity to this region. This growth may however be partially offset due to a number of airlines reducing routes or decreasing seat capacity. We are therefore cautiously optimistic about the remaining period and expect to close off the summer season with an overall positive result.

The retail sector of the business is also performing relatively well with a 5% growth over the same period last year.

Subject to any unforeseen circumstances, the Directors expect the Company’s financial results for the year will be within projections made at the beginning of the year. 

To view the official Company Announcement, click here.