Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 29): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) saw its net loss narrowed 43% year-on-year to RM182.32 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 (3QFY21) from a net loss of RM319.72 million, on the back of higher revenue posted coupled with lower operational expenses in the current quarter. 

In a Bursa Malaysia filing on Monday (Nov 29), the airport operator said its quarterly revenue, however, jumped by 16.3% to RM461.33 million from RM396.69 million a year ago, driven by higher passenger volumes for Turkey operations due to the relaxation of border and inter-city travel in Turkey. 

Aside from being an airport operator in Malaysia, MAHB also has businesses overseas that include managing, operating and maintaining the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISGIA) in Turkey.

It noted that Turkey operations showed signs towards normalisation as passenger traffic had increased from 4.9 million to 8.9 million passengers. 

Passenger traffic for the Malaysia operations contracted by 77.8% to 1.0 million passengers as compared to 4.5 million passengers in the corresponding quarter in the prior year, impacted by the continuation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and renewed total lockdown from June 1, 2021, it added.

On a quarterly basis, the group’s 3QFY21 net loss narrowed from RM226.09 million reported in the immediate preceding quarter while revenue rose from RM323.42 million registered in 2QFY21. 

For the cumulative nine-month period ended Sept 30, the group’s net loss swelled 46% to RM629.71 million from a net loss of RM431.17 million while revenue slid by 30.01% to RM1.12 billion from RM1.6 billion. 

Moving forward, MAHB continues to take pre-emptive measures to mitigate its impact by implementing an aggressive cost optimization plan.

“These measures include recalibrating operational efficiencies i.e. rebasing cost and prioritising capital expenditure to conserve cash reserves and ensure that the group is able to meet its financial and operational obligations. 

“As at Sept 30, 2021, the group had achieved a reduction of 12% of the core operational expenses, or RM143.3 million as compared to the corresponding period in the prior year,” it said. 

Shares in MAHB finished 28 sen or 4.61% lower to RM5.80, giving the group a market capitalisationof RM10 billion. 

Edited ByJoyce Goh
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