KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) net loss surged to RM221.30 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (Q1 FY2021) from RM20.39 million in the same period last year.
Revenue dipped 63.9% to RM336.91 million from RM933.84 million previously, in tandem with the significant 76.9% contraction in passenger movements due to the prolonged movement control order (MCO) and interstate travel ban, the airport operators said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
“For the quarter under review, revenue from airport operations and aeronautical segment each decreased by 66.7% and 71.6% to RM291.9 million and RM142.6 million, respectively.
“Passenger traffic for the Malaysia operations contracted significantly by 90.8% (international: -96.6%, domestic: -85.3%) to 1.7 million passengers in Q1 FY2021 against 18.4 million passengers recorded in Q1 FY2020,” it said.
MAHB said the passenger traffic for Turkey operations contracted by 40.8% (international: -55.6%, domestic: -31.8%) to 4.2 million passengers from to 7.1 million passengers recorded in Q1 FY2020.
“Non-aeronautical segment decreased by 60.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM149.3 million, largely due to lower duty-free revenue, lower commercial rental revenue impacted by a sharp contraction of international passengers.
“Revenue from the non-airport operations decreased by 19.8% y-o-y or RM11.1 million due to lower revenue from hotel and project and repair maintenance businesses,” it added.
MAHB said overall, revenue from its Malaysia and Turkey operations had significantly decreased by 75.2% to RM163.4 million and 39.5% to RM152.2 million, respectively, while its Qatar operation posted a slight decrease in revenue from RM22.0 million to RM21.3 million.
On its outlook, MAHB said traffic recovery would continue to rely on the efficacy of vaccine rollout and the extent of travel restrictions.
It said digital health travel passes and more synchronised travel procedures across countries may encourage cross-border travel and support further travel recovery.
“Nevertheless, the prime initiator of air travel would be the level of control of Covid-19 cases,” it said.
In the meantime, MAHB will continue to take pre-emptive measures to mitigate its impact by implementing an aggressive cost optimisation plan, it said.
“These measures include recalibrating operational efficiencies – rebasing cost and prioritising capital expenditure – to conserve cash reserves and ensure that the group is able to meet its financial and operational obligations.
“As at March 31, 2021, the group had achieved a reduction of 22% core operational expenses as compared with Q1 FY2020,” added MAHB. – Bernama, May 28, 2021
