The national flagship carrier is renewing with profits for the quarter ending September 2016. Air Mauritius has posted profits of Rs 518 million.
A fortnight after its Chief Executive Officer was unceremoniously sacked by a Board meeting convened only hours earlier, Air Mauritius has renewed with profits. Figures released on Thursday 10 November, reveal that the airline has made profits of 13.6 million euros (roughly Rs 518 million) for the three months ended 30 September 2016.
Profit figures have doubled, up 101.4 per cent, as compared to same quarter in 2015 where they stood at 5.7 million euros (approximately Rs 217.5 million). For the corresponding quarter of last year, the Group and the Company had recorded profits of Eur 5.8 million and Eur 5.7 million respectively.
Total passengers carried continued to increase. During the quarter passengers increased by 8.9% to 416,485 as compared to 382,604 passengers carried during the quarter ended 30 September 2015. The number of seats offered increased by 5.4% and the Passenger Load Factor increased from 80.4% to 83.7%. However, the passenger yield witnessed a drop of 4.5%. The operating revenue of the Company increased by 2.1% from Eur 131.1million to Eur 133.9 million.
The Brent oil price, which averaged USD 56/BL during the quarter Jul15-Sep15, dropped to an average of USD 48/BL for the quarter under review. The fuel hedge payout also reduced from Eur 8.3 million in the quarter ended 30 September 2015 to Eur 2.1 million for the second quarter of the financial year 2016/17. The operating expenses decreased by 4.2% from Eur 118.5 million to Eur 113.6 million.
“The Company pursued its growth strategy by extending its Asian network to include once weekly direct operations to Guangzhou as from July 2016,” said the Board in a statement released.
The profit recorded in the second quarter significantly increased the Group and the Company profits for the half year ended 30 September 2016 to Eur 15.9 million and Eur 15.5 million respectively. For the corresponding period last year, the Group and the Company had recorded losses of Eur 3.9 million and Eur 4.1 million respectively.
The number of passengers carried went up by 8.9% to reach 759,957 as compared to 697,702 during the half year ended 30 September 2015. Seat capacity increased from 948,528 to 1,007,896 and the Passenger Load Factor went up from 77.9 per cent to 80.6 per cent. Operating revenue of the Company went up by 2.4% to reach Eur 243.3 million whereas operating expenses decreased by 6.0% from Eur 228.3 million to Eur 214.6 million mainly on account of lower fuel cost.
Total Shareholders’ Funds for the Company increased from Eur 82.5 million as at 31 March 2016 to Eur 103.9 million as at 30 September 2016. As a result, the net assets per share increased from Eur 0.81 (Rs 32.37) as at 31 March 2016 to Eur 1.02 (Rs 40.83) as at 30 September 2016.
Outlook
According to the airline, “competition has further intensified with the arrival of new players. Consequently, the Company anticipates a very challenging second semester. A series of initiatives are being implemented to improve the airline’s share of traffic on its network and particularly to continue growing the Asian and emerging markets. The Company is also working on a detailed plan to improve the fundamentals of the business.”
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