KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) posted a 17.4% year-on-year rise in net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2019 to RM197.87 million from RM168.49 million, on the back of higher revenue.

In a filing today, MAHB said revenue for the quarter increased 10.2% to RM1.36 billion from RM1.23 billion a year ago, on the back of overall passenger growth of 6.7%.

Earnings per share for the quarter rose to 11.05 sen from 9.28 sen earlier.

For the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30 (9MFY19), MAHB's net profit, however, fell 27.4% to RM507.53 million from RM699.21 million in the year-ago period, while revenue rose to RM3.87 billion from RM3.6 billion.

MAHB said the decline in 9MFY19 net profit was due to the one-off gains recorded in the corresponding period last year in relation to the fair valuation of investment in GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) amounting to RM258.4 million and gain on disposal of investment in GMR Male Private Ltd (GMIAL) amounting to RM28.2 million.

"Excluding the one-off gains, the group's profit before tax increased by 31.1% or RM145.4 million as compared to the corresponding period last year due to higher revenue from both airport and non-airport operations recorded during the period," it said.

Commenting on its prospects, MAHB said that for its Malaysia operations, with the positive average load factors recorded in the current quarter under review, the 2019 budgeted traffic numbers are realistically achievable.

The airports operator said the domestic traffic correction and consolidation are expected to continue until the first quarter of 2020 while the international sector could see further improvement.

"Nevertheless, challenges and uncertainties continue with respect to airlines performance, competition in the domestic environment as well as the local and global macro-economic outlook," it said.

On its overseas operations, MAHB said Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISGIA) recorded 26.6 million passengers in the current period under review, representing an increase of 2.7% over the corresponding period last year.

"International passenger traffic increased by 19.5% while domestic passenger traffic decreased by 5.8%.

"ISGIA performance will likely maintain its growth momentum in 2019 especially for international passenger traffic," it said.

At the midday break, MAHB shares fell 1.55% or 13 sen to RM8.26, for a market capitalisation of RM13.71 billion.