Emirates Group Posts 67 Percent Increase in Profits

The Emirates Group posted a profit of 1.1 billion U.S Dollars for the financial year ended 31 March 2018, up 67 percent from last year.

The Group’s revenue reached 27.9. billion U.S Dollars, an increase of 8 percent over last year’s results, and the Group’s cash balance increased by 33 percent to 6.9 billion U.S Dollars supported by the bond issued in March and strong sales due to the early Easter holidays at the end of March.

In line with the overall profit, the Group declared a dividend of 545 million U.S Dollars to the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

Across its more than 80 subsidiaries, the Group’s total workforce declined by 2 percent to 103,363, representing over 160 different nationalities, as part of the overall productivity improvement initiatives in Emirates and dnata.

Emirates’ total passenger and cargo capacity crossed the 61 billion mark, to 61.4 billion ATKMs at the end of 2017-18, cementing its position as the world’s largest international carrier. The airline moderately increased capacity during the year over 2016-17 by 2 percent, with a focus on yield improvement. 

Total operating costs increased by 7 percent over the 2016-17 financial year. The average price of jet fuel increased sharply by 15 percent during the financial year. Including a 3 percent higher uplift in line with a capacity increase, the airline’s fuel bill increased substantially by 18 percent over last year to US$ 6.7 billion. Fuel is now 28 percent of operating costs, compared to 25 percent in 2016-17, and it remained the biggest cost component for the airline.

The airline successfully managed strong competitive pressure across all markets and increased its profit to 762 million U.S Dollars, an increase of 124 percent over last year’s results, and a profit margin of 3.0 percent. 

Overall passenger traffic growth continues to demonstrate the consumer desire to fly on Emirates’ state-of-the-art aircraft, and via efficient routings through its Dubai hub.

In an airfreight market with fast-changing demand patterns, Emirates’ cargo division reported a revenue of 3.4 billion U.S Dollars, an impressive increase of 17 percent over last year, while tonnage carried slightly increased by 2 percent to reach 2.6 million tonnes.