DAA Delivers Solid 2011 Performance

Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) produced a resilient financial performance last year, as total traffic at its Irish airports returned to growth and profits from its overseas operations increased.

"In the context of a weak economy, both in Ireland and our key overseas travel markets, the Group had a satisfactory financial performance last year," said DAA Chairman Pádraig Ó Ríordáin.

Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 9% to €160 million in 2011, boosted by improved aeronautical revenue and a continued focus on cost reduction.

Turnover was effectively flat during the year at €557 million, while Group profit declined by 9% to €30 million, due to the impact of higher interest and depreciation charges.

Costs were reduced by 1% to €275 million, despite the inclusion of a full year's operation of the award-winning Terminal 2 facility at Dublin Airport for the first time. DAA has reduced its total costs by 11% since 2008 through prudent management of both its payroll and non-pay costs.

"We doubled terminal and boarding gate capacity at Dublin and simultaneously reduced our overall costs to 2005 levels, which is a significant achievement," according to Mr Ó Ríordáin. "We will continue to take further steps to reduce our cost base," he added.

DAA's net debt was reduced by €30 million to €735 million in 2011 and the company redeemed or repurchased €300 million worth of its bonds during the year. "We have a strong liquidity position and are funded until 2018 based on current requirements," according to Mr Ó Ríordáin.

Total passenger numbers at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports increased by 1% last year to 22.7 million, as international traffic grew by 2%. Domestic air travel within Ireland continued to experience significant declines.

Dublin Airport welcomed 18.7 million passengers during 2011, a 2% increase on the previous year. Passenger numbers in Cork declined by 3% to 2.4 million, while passenger numbers at Shannon declined by 7% to 1.6 million. International passengers at Dublin and Cork increased by 3% last year.

DAA provided €14 million worth of incentives to support its airline customers in the development of new routes and additional business at the three airports during the year. More than 30 airlines grew their business at Dublin Airport in 2011 and they were rewarded with a €1.5 million rebate on airport charges under an incentive scheme to encourage growth in passenger numbers. A similar incentive scheme is in place at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports for this year.

Overall passenger numbers for 2012 are likely to be in line with last year or could show some modest growth, according to DAA's Interim Chief Executive Oliver Cussen.

He said new routes would add one million additional seats this year, with a number of airline customers showing good growth in the Irish market. "This new business is essential for our airports, as it offsets traffic lost through airline closures and capacity reductions," according to Mr Cussen. "Our airline customers are adding 17 new routes this year at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports and we have extra capacity on 34 existing services."

Terminal 2 had a very successful first full year of operation during 2011, Mr Cussen said. "The transfer of operations to T2 was completed without any disruption to passengers or airlines, in marked contrast to some other recent and planned terminal openings. T2 is already helping to win additional business for Ireland with the advent of new long-haul and short-haul routes."

T2 handled more than eight million passengers in 2011 and will welcome more than 8.5 million passengers this year. "In passenger terms T2 is about the same size as Birmingham Airport, which is the UK's seventh largest airport," Mr Cussen said.

The overseas arm of DAA's ARI subsidiary, which operates in 12 countries, recorded strong underlying sales growth during the year. ARI's overseas business made profits of €32 million last year, a 69% increase on the previous 12 months. Profits were boosted by disposals and continued strong returns from its investment in Düsseldorf Airport, but the retail business also saw good growth in India and North America during 2011.

ARI, which is currently bidding for the duty free contract at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), will open its first Chinese outlets later this year at the new Kunming Changshui International Airport in south-west China.