MAHB Q3 PROFITS SOARS TO RM79.69m

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) net profit surged more than sevenfold to RM79.69 million in the third quarter ended September 30 this year from RM10.67 million a year ago.

This was due to strong revenue growth in both its airport and non-airport operations, said the company in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

Group revenue for the quarter edged up 12.7 per cent to RM1.21 billion.

For the nine-month period, MAHB’s net profit stood at RM208.63 million from RM37.06 million previously, while revenue rose to RM3.4 billion from RM3.09 billion before.

It said airport operations revenue had grown 13.3 per cent to RM1.13 billion as both aeronautical and non-aeronautical segments contributed double-digit growth over the corresponding quarter last year.

“Malaysia’s operations recorded passenger growth of 6.5 per cent to 24.7 million passengers compared with 23.2 million passengers during last year’s corresponding quarter.

“The growth in international passenger traffic was fuelled by strong travel demand, lower ringgit value, visa relaxation measures for Chinese and Indian tourists, Umrah traffic and increased tourism promotion.”

In the non-aeronautical segment, the group’s revenue rose 12.7 per cent to RM531.1 million on stronger sales by concessionaires and retailers.

Overall, Malaysia’s operations posted 11.4 per cent higher revenue of RM860.8 million while Turkey and Qatar operations recorded revenue growth of 17.4 per cent to RM315.6 million and 3.8 per cent to RM35.5 million, respectively.