The Emirates Group has posted a 28% reduction in profits to record Ksh. 45.6 billion for the financial year ended 31 March 2020
The drop in revenue has mainly been attributed to reduced operations during the planned DXB runway closure in the first quarter, and the impact of flight and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the fourth quarter.
The Group’s revenuereached US$ 28.3 billion, a decline of 5% over last year’s results. The Group’s cash balance was US$ 7.0 billion, up 15% from last year mainly due to a strong business performance up to February 2020 and lower fuel cost compared to previous year.
Due to the unprecedented business environment from the ongoing pandemic, and to protect the Group’s liquidity position, the Group has not declared a dividend for this financial year after last year’s dividend of AED 500 million (US$ 136 million) to the Investment Corporation of Dubai.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, noted that for the first 11 months of 2019-20, Emirates and dnata were performing strongly, and we were on track to deliver against business targets.
“However, from mid-February things changed rapidly as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world, causing a sudden and tremendous drop in demand for international air travel as countries closed their borders and imposed stringent travel restrictions.”
Emirates’ total passenger and cargocapacity declined by 8% to 58.6 billion due to the DXB runway closure capacity restrictions and COVID-19 impact with a complete suspension of passenger services as directed by the UAE government during March 2020.
Total operatingcosts decreased by 10% over the 2018-19 financial year. The average price of jet fuel declined by 9% during the financial year after last year’s 22% increase. Including a 6% lower uplift in line with capacity reduction, the airline’s fuel bill declined substantially by 15% over last year to AED 26.3 billion (US$ 7.2 billion) and accounted for 31% of operating costs, compared to 32% in 2018-19. Fuel remained the biggest cost component for the airline.
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