Auckland Airport lifts annual profit guidance following 1HFY2015 performance

Auckland International Airport Limited (AIAL) announced (20-Feb-2015) it would raise its full-year profit guidance to between NZD167 million (USD124 million) to NZD174 million (USD131 million), after recording a year-on-year profit after tax increase of 8.1% to NZD92.8 million (USD76 million) in the 1HFY2015. Auckland Airport chair Henry van der Heyden advised: "This updated guidance would deliver an increase in underlying earnings per share of between 7% and 11% for our investors... subject to any material adverse events, significant one-off expenses, non-cash fair value changes to property and deterioration due to global market conditions or other unforeseeable circumstances." The airport attributed the profit growth to a year-on-year total traffic increase of 3.8% to 7.9 million and revenue growth of 6.5% to NZD251.4 million (USD190 million) in the six months to 31-Dec-2014. [more - original PR]