UK. Retail shone as MAG, the country’s largest airports operator, today reported a +6.6% rise in EBITDA to £215.9 million (US$275.5 million) for the first semester ended 30 September.
Increased revenues were boosted by record passenger traffic (up +7.7%) and the completion of terminal renovations at London Stansted and East Midlands airports. These factors drove a +11% rise in group retail revenues.
MAG, which operates those two gateways plus Manchester and Bournemouth airports, said that new route development had driven passenger numbers back to “pre-recession levels” at Manchester and Stansted. MAG’s groupwide passenger numbers in the first six months rose +7.7% year-on-year to 32 million.
Commenting on the strong retail performance, the group said: “Revenue is up even though we have seen continued challenging conditions in duty free retail. Despite changes in buying habits, as well as a shift in holiday traffic from Middle Eastern and North African destinations to lower-yielding EU routes, income is up +11% as a result of investment in new retail offers across our airports, and in particular the completion of the terminal transformation programme at London Stansted.”
MAG CEO Charlie Cornish said: “During the first half of the financial year, the Group has continued to exceed its challenging financial targets and delivered good growth in both passenger numbers and revenue, driven by new route offerings and the completion of the significant terminal redevelopment at London Stansted.”
