Malaysia Airports Reports Ebitda Of Rm1,679.1 Million, Exceeded Its Fy15 Headline Kpi On The Back Of 44.4% Growth In Revenue

SEPANG – Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad ("Malaysia Airports" or "the Group") reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ("EBITDA") of RM1,679.1 million for the financial year ended 31 December 2015 ("FY15"), representing an increase of 113.4% when compared to the financial year ended 31 December 2014 (“FY14”). As a result, Malaysia Airports exceeded its headline KPI of RM1,552.4 million for FY15. The achievement was on the back of a remarkable 44.4% growth in revenue, primarily arising from the Group’s Turkey operations, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Uluslararasi Havalimani Yatirim Yapim Ve Isletme A.S. ("ISG") and LGM Havalimani Isletmeleri Ticaret ve Turizm A.S. ("LGM"), in addition to stronger commercial performance in Malaysia. Collectively, ISG and LGM contributed RM700.5 million to the Group’s FY15 EBITDA.

Group Performance

Total revenue for the Group of RM3,871.0 million in FY15 was attributable to the improved results from the airport operations segment, up 44.2 % to RM3,619.2 million, mainly from ISG and LGM, while the Group’s commercial operations in Malaysia also contributed to the impressive growth. Meanwhile, revenue from the non-airport operations segment grew by 46.8% to RM251.8 million, largely due to income from facilities management work contracts at Hamad International Airport, Doha.

With the combined operating performance of ISG, the Group’s system of airports handled 112.0 million passengers in FY15, a 4.7% growth over the same period in FY14. Similarly, aircraft movements grew 5.8% to 1,020,652 movements in FY15.

Malaysia Operations

Passenger movements at the Group’s 39 airports in Malaysia stood at 83.7 million for FY15, a 0.5% growth over FY14. Domestic passenger movements grew by 1.2% to 43.7 million passengers while international passenger movements declined slightly by 0.4% to 40.0 million passengers. KLIA, being the main gateway to Malaysia, recorded a flat growth for the year while other airports in Malaysia recorded an aggregate growth of 1.1%. Total aircraft movements grew 2.9% to 814,472 aircrafts.

Malaysia Airports recorded revenue of RM2,950.9 million for its Malaysia operations in FY15, representing an increase of 10.1%. The increase was credited to the strong commercial performance despite the backdrop of weaker consumer sentiment. The increase in commercial revenue by 10.3% to RM616.3 million and RM672.5 million was in line with the full year impact of the larger commercial space at klia2 in FY15 vis-à-vis FY14. Aeronautical revenue on the other hand increased by 6.1% to RM1,422.5 million in FY15, mainly arising from lower airline incentives compared to the previous corresponding period. Consequently, EBITDA for the Malaysia operations rose by 24.4% to RM978.6 million.

Turkey Operations

ISG’s passenger movements recorded strong double-digit growth for both domestic and international sectors by 23.7% and 12.8% respectively, achieving an overall growth of 19.7% to 28.3 million passengers in FY15, thus retaining its position as the fastest growing airport in Europe. Overall aircraft movements rose 19.3% to 206,180 movements. ISG’s airport operations revenue grew by 14.6% to RM818.5million in FY15, boosted by the robust growth in passenger movements while revenue from LGM had risen by 24.4% to RM121.2 million.

ICAO and IATA have projected global passenger traffic growth of 6.3% and 6.9% respectively for 2016. For Asia Pacific IATA forecast is a high 8.0% growth over 2015. Air travel is a function of GDP, consumer and business sentiments, and overall macroeconomic factors. The lower fuel price may help stimulate air travel demand in 2016 as profitability for airlines will increase and in turn, encourage increased seat offerings and lower fares. The recent ratification of the ASEAN Open Skies by Philippines would further help improve intra-ASEAN travel further.

While uncertainty persists for the global economy, the outlook for Malaysia Airports is expected to remain healthy. Asia-Pacific continues to be the world's largest air travel sector with ASEAN having a population of more than 600 million and augmented by China and India with their extraordinary large population and economic growth. Malaysia Airports continues to further develop KLIA’s capacity as a regional hub with seamless connectivity, and to boost the Group’s marketing efforts to attract new airlines.

The return of British Airways, All Nippon Airways and Air China in 2015 and the extensive code-share partnership between Malaysia Airlines and Emirates is a positive indication of continuing potential demand for air travel. Furthermore, the move by the Government of Malaysia to give Visa Free status to travellers from China and the implementation of eVisas will provide the added dynamism required by the industry in 2016. The Group also continues to collaborate closely with Tourism Malaysia to promote Malaysia as a vibrant tourist destination. Based on the prevailing factors, we expect 2016 passenger traffic for the Group’s Malaysia operations to record 86.0 million movements, or 2.5% above 2015 passenger numbers.

Malaysia Airports is also banking on stimulating economic activity through logistics, aerospace an MICE/leisure segments for the Group’s Aeropolis development, which will also serve as an engine for tourism growth. While for the Group’s Turkey operations, growth remains robust as indicated by the recognition of being the fastest growing airport in Europe in FY15. Passenger traffic at ISG is expected to register double digit growth in 2016.