Emirates posts $762m profit

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum

Emirates Airline, the main concern of Dubai-based Emirates Group records a profit of US$ 762 billion for the year 2017-18. The profit shows staggering 124 per cent growth over the previous year, said a press statement.

The Emirates Group comprising Emirates Airline and dnata announced Wednesday its 30th consecutive year of profit. In 2017-18 Annual Report, the Emirates Group posted a profit of US$ 1.1 billion for the financial year ended March 31, 2018, up 67 per cent from last year.

The Group's revenue reached US$ 27.9.billion, an increase of 8.0 per cent over last year's results, and the Group's cash balance increased by 33 per cent US$ 6.9 billion.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, said: "Business conditions in 2017-18, while improved, remained tough. We saw ongoing political instability, currency volatility and devaluations in Africa, rising oil prices which drove our costs up, and downward pressure on margins from relentless competition. On the positive side, we benefitted from a healthy recovery in the global air cargo industry, as well as the relative strengthening of key currencies against the US dollar."

Emirates airline earned revenue of US$ 25.2 billion during 2017-18. The airline carried a record 58.5 million passengers (up 4.0pc), and achieved a Passenger Seat Factor of 77.5pc during 2017-18.

Emirates' cargo division- Emirates SkyCargo reported revenue US$ 3.4 billion, an impressive increase of 17 per cent over last year, while tonnage carried slightly increased by 2.0 per cent to reach 2.6 million tonnes.

Across its more than 80 subsidiaries, the Group's total workforce declined by 2.0 per cent to 103,363, representing over 160 different nationalities, as part of the overall productivity improvement initiatives in Emirates and dnata.

Emirates received 17 new aircraft, after last year's record number during a financial year, comprising of eight A380s and nine Boeing 777-300ERs. At the same time, eight older aircraft were phased out, bringing its total fleet count to 268 at the end of March. Emirates' average fleet age at the year end stood at 5.7 years.