KUALA LUMPUR (May 30): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (KL:AIRPORT) has reported a more more than three-fold rise in its first quarter net profit from a year earlier fuelled by higher passenger volumes.  

Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) soared to RM189.99 million or 10.53 sen per share, compared with RM58.19 million or 2.65 sen per share in the same period last year, MAHB’s bourse filing showed.  

Quarterly revenue increased 30.64% year-on-year to RM1.35 billion from RM1.03 billion, thanks to higher passenger numbers resulting from new airline operations, school holiday travel, the Chinese New Year festive season, and the implementation of a 30-day visa-free waiver for China and India travellers to Malaysia, the group said.

The airports operator did not declare any dividend for the quarter.  

Moving ahead, MAHB anticipates a further recovery in passenger traffic beyond pre-pandemic levels by 2024, which will be supported by the relaxation of visa requirements that can stimulate passenger arrivals.

“MAHB continues to work closely with the Malaysian government to further facilitate passenger arrivals, including expanding the use of e-Gate to China and India passengers,” it said.  

Still, the group acknowledged that its performance may be affected by aircraft availability, global inflation, fuel prices, and geopolitical risks.

“The group remains steadfast in optimising its costs, with its core cost per passenger expected to further improve in tandem with passenger growth,” the airports operator said, adding that it will also closely monitors the prevailing conflict in West Asia and the possible impact on its operations and costs as airlines reroute flights to avoid specific airspace.

During the quarter under review, MAHB said revenue from its airport operations increased by 31.7% to RM1.27 billion from RM960.7 million in the year-ago 1Q, while its aeronautical segment revenue increased to RM733.9 million from RM553.8 million.

“This surge was driven by the growth in traffic, with total passenger numbers for the group reaching 31.3 million from 26.8 million passengers in the corresponding quarter last year,” MAHB said.  

Its Malaysia operations saw a rise in 1Q passenger traffic to 21.8 million from 18.7 million passengers a year earlier. Likewise, its Turkiye operations continued to show passenger traffic growth, increasing from 8.1 million to 9.5 million passengers during the same period.

Meanwhile, its non-aeronautical segment revenue increased to RM531.8 million from RM406.9 million, largely due to better contribution of commercial revenue from its Malaysia and Turkiye operations.

Revenue from its non-airport operations also increased by 16.1% to RM85.6 million from RM73.7 million due to higher revenue from hotel, agriculture, project and repair maintenance businesses.

MAHB shares closed five sen or 0.51% higher at RM9.93, valuing the group at RM16.57 billion.