The Emirates Group said its revenue for the first six months of 2019-20 was $14.5 billion, down 2% from $ 14.8 billion during the same period last year.
This slight revenue decline was due mainly to planned capacity reductions during the 45-day Southern Runway closure at Dubai International airport (DXB), and unfavourable currency movements in Europe, Australia, South Africa, India, and Pakistan.
Profitability was up 8% compared to the same period last year, with the Group reporting a 2019-20 half-year net profit of $320 million.
The profit improvement was primarily due to the decline in fuel prices of 9% compared to the same period last year; however, the gain from lower fuel costs were partially offset by negative currency movements.
The Group’s cash position on September 30 stood at $6.3 billion, compared to $6 billion as at March 31.
The Emirates Group delivered a steady and positive performance in the first half of 2019-20, by adapting our strategies to navigate the tough trading conditions and social-political uncertainty in many markets around the world.
Both Emirates and Dnata worked hard to minimize the impact of the planned runway renovations at DXB on our business and on our customers. We also kept a tight rein on controllable costs and continued to drive efficiency improvement, while ensuring that our resources were deployed nimbly to capitalize on areas of opportunity.
The lower fuel cost was a welcome respite as we saw our fuel bill drop by AED 2.0 billion compared to the same period last year. However, unfavourable currency movements wiped off approximately AED 1.2 billion from the profits, he added.
During the first six months of 2019-20, Emirates received three Airbus A380s, with three more new aircraft scheduled to be delivered before the end of the 2019-20 financial year.
It also retired six older aircraft from its fleet with a further 2 to be returned by March 31, 2020.
