THE owner of Glasgow and Aberdeen airports doubled its profits last year in spite of seeing a fall in revenue as a result of the oil and gas downturn.
ASG Airports posted revenue of £197 million for the year to December 31, down from £201m the previous period, which ran from the company’s creation in September 2014 until the end of 2015.
Pre-tax profit doubled to £26m as a result of cost-cutting measures. The company made a £4m taxation gain.
ASG Airports was founded in 2014 as a joint venture between Faero UK, which is owned by a subsidiary of Spanish group Ferrovial Airports; and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), which is one of the largest airport owners in the world.
The business also owns Southampton Airport and together, the companies have previously partnered on airports including Bristol and Sydney.
In accounts newly filed at Companies House, John Bruen, managing director of MIRA; and Inaki Garcia Bilbao, chief financial officer of Ferrovial Airports, wrote: “The lower passenger levels at Aberdeen were driven by reduced flights across typical oil and gas market related routes which have been adversely impacted by the downturn in the energy sector.”
They continued: “Higher passenger levels at Glasgow were driven by increased capacity provided by both new and existing carriers, and increased passengers at Southampton reflects growth in domestic traffic and an increase in international traffic.”
A total of £112m of the revenue came through Glasgow Airport, up from £107m in the previous period. The airport generated £53m from airlines, £39m from retail, £12m from property and facilities, and £8m from other areas.
Aberdeen generated £56m, down from £65m, with £31m coming from airlines, £11m from retail, £9m from property and £5m from other areas.
Southampton Airport contributed £29m to the group’s total.
Glasgow Airport posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £61m, up 45 per cent on the previous period. Aberdeen’s EBITDA was steady at £25m.
The total number of passengers who flew through airports owned by ASG Airports was 14.4 million, roughly the same as in 2015.
The directors wrote they expected Glasgow’s passenger numbers to increase throughout 2017, while Aberdeen was expected to level off.
“Glasgow expects continued growth in passenger traffic. This reflects expected volume gains from additional capacity and new routes introduced by Ryanair and Jet2, and from the commencement of Delta’s service to New York.”
In fact, Glasgow has continued to increase traffic numbers, with August 2017 seeing more than one million passengers travel through the airport for the third successive month.
US airline Delta began flying to New York’s JFK Airport, direct from Glasgow, in May this year, which was described as a significant development for the airport by ASG chief executive Amanda McMillan, who is also managing director of Glasgow Airport.
Of Aberdeen, the directors wrote: “The demand from the energy market is anticipated to remain at the lower level experienced in 2016 due to the continuation of low oil prices. However, the company expects increased international passenger traffic, as a consequence of additional leisure capacity.”
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