"Sars effects hit Beijing airport operator profit"

Friday, August 22, 2003

Sars effects hit Beijing airport operator profit
The Hong Kong Standard


Beijing Capital International Airport, China's biggest airport manager, is
expecting slow traffic growth for all of 2003, even though aircraft and
passenger throughput is recovering gradually.

The company said a full recovery in both aircraft and passenger traffic
would only come next month. The anticipated slower growth this year compared
with last could trim revenues already hurt by the Sars outbreak, when
travellers avoided flying. ``It could be slightly worse'' compared with
2002, chairman Wang Zhanbin said yesterday. As aircraft traffic at Beijing
airport picked up this month, rising 5.9 per cent in the first half of the
month, passenger traffic volume slipped 3 per cent, the company said.

The improved aircraft traffic constituted mainly domestic flights as
international airlines had yet to resume all flights to Beijing.
International flights, which accounted for more than a fifth of total
traffic, had fallen 14 per cent during the period, year on year.

The half-month numbers were an improvement from July when aircraft and
passenger traffic languished in negatively territory _ down by 5 per cent
and 17.4 per cent respectively, compared with the same month last year.
Overall sharp drops in first-half traffic during the Sars outbreak ate into
the airport operator's interim earnings and resulted in two months of losses
in May and June, it said.

Finance manager Zhao Jianhua said the company suffered losses of 23 million
yuan (HK$21.67 million) and 11 million yuan in May and June, respectively,
although it posted a profitable second quarter.

Beijing Capital's first-half net income was more than halved to 110.4
million yuan, or 0.03 yuan a share, compared with the previous 229.6 million
yuan. The company said it would pay an interim dividend of 0.01291 yuan a
share, down from the 0.01758 yuan paid a year ago. A 6.6 per cent rise in
costs in the six months generated a profit drop that exceeded the 13.3 per
cent decline in total revenue to 924.7 million yuan. Revenue from
aeronautical operations fell a bigger 15.4 per cent to 633.3 million yuan as
aircraft, passenger and freight traffic dropped.

Aircraft movements fell 15.8 per cent to 98,168. Passenger traffic was down
26.2 per cent to 9.25 million as numbers of passengers arriving on
international flights tumbled 40.7 per cent year on year to 2.19 million.
Freight throughput decreased 16.7 per cent to 257,404 tons.

A cut in airport fees by mainland aviation regulators to help airlines tide
over the tough months at the height of the viral outbreak reduced Beijing
Capital's airport fee revenue by more than a fifth to 126.3 million yuan.

By comparison, revenue from non-aeronautical operations _ including retail
and air catering income, advertising and restaurants _ slipped 8.5 per cent
to 291.4 million yuan during the six months. The income decline depressed
Beijing Capital's Hong Kong-traded shares yesterday to close 1.1 per cent
down to HK$2.275.


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