Manchester Airports Group reports double-digit growth in first-half retail income

UK. Manchester Airports Group (MAG) posted revenue of £104.6 million from its retail concessions in the six months to 30 September, a healthy increase of +13.4% year-on-year. The company owns and manages Manchester, London Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports.

The retail performance was driven by increased passenger volumes, and a strong contribution following a big investment in the food & beverage offering at London Stansted Airport.

Car parking revenue hit £103.1 million, +13.3% higher than the prior-year period, driven by additional capacity to serve increased passenger volumes, and more effective management of the customer trend of moving to pre-book channels, said MAG. Total commercial income (including retail, car parking and property) reached £270.1 million in the half, up by +10.6% on H1 2016.

Passenger volumes grew by a robust +9.1% across the company’s airports to 34.9 million. Group revenue climbed by +12.9% to £544.6 million while adjusted EBITDA grew +9.6% to £236.6 million.

In its interim results statement, MAG said: “The largest increases in passengers are at our two main airports, Manchester (growth of +9.2% on prior period) and London Stansted (growth of +9.8% on prior period), where airlines have increased capacity and introduced new destinations, largely driven through low cost carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet. The introduction of Jet2.com has contributed significantly to growth at London Stansted.

“New long-haul routes with new and existing airlines have also been added, to increase the breadth of destinations across our airports, including the launch of new direct routes to Muscat (Oman Air), Houston (Singapore Airlines), Boston (Virgin Atlantic) and San Francisco (Thomas Cook and Virgin Atlantic)”

On 4 December, the group announced the disposal of its share in Bournemouth Airport to Regional and City Airports, a division of Rigby Group in the UK. The funds generated will be invested in its other UK airports.

How H1 2017 performance compares to H1 2016 across the airport group
Passenger traffic growth buoyed MAG’s business in the half; the company is selling Bournemouth Airport, which accounts for under 2% of its passenger volumes
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