Johannesburg - Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) reported an 8.9% increase in revenue to R7.7bn for the financial year ended March 31 2015.
Acsa is the owner of South Africa’s nine principal airports and has additional operations in Brazil and India.
Profitability was driven mainly by strong aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue performance along with an increase in the fair values of our investment properties.
Aeronautical revenue of R4.9bn represents 63% of total revenue and non-aeronautical revenue (mostly from retail activities) of R2.8bn makes up the rest.
Operating profit increased by 17.2% to R3.8bn, after-tax profits decreased by 8.5% to R1.6bn and capital expenditure decreased by 11% to R826m.
The group experienced a 2.4% increase in departing passenger numbers from 17.4 million in 2014, to 17.8 million in the current year.
READ: Acsa seals deal with Ghana airport
Total assets were at R27.4bn, compared to R27.9bn in 2014. The company continued to minimise its cost of borrowings through early debt redemptions where possible, reducing its debt burden by R1.9bn during the period in review.
According to CEO Bongani Maseko in the next three years Acsa plans to develop a model to secure new business in Africa and other emerging markets, accelerate sustainability and the transformation programme, roll out an information technology strategy and engage with industry players and legislators on the company’s regulatory and funding framework.
ACSA CFO Maureen Manyama told Fin24 on Tuesday that the results can be seen as positive, especially regarding profit, revenue growth and the reduction in liabilities.
She said the decrease in capital expenditure is, however, an area of concern.
"We are behind in terms of implementation and are looking at ways to improve our capital expenditure since a lack thereof also impacts anticipated job creation," explained Manyama.
At the same time Acsa can only execute projects if the economic conditions are favourable for the company.
ALSO READ: Aviation rules keep skies safe