DUBLIN AIRPORT is expected to post greater-than-expected profits for 2010 but Shannon and Cork airports continue to haemorrhage money, according to a draft financial report obtained by this newspaper.
Cork airport lost over €10 million while Shannon airport lost in the region of €5 million in 2010, the management accounts show. Previous figures revealed passenger numbers at both State airports have continued to fall sharply in 2011.
Dublin airport, by contrast, achieved a profit before tax of €35 million during 2010, well ahead of Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) expectations, according to a draft of the company’s management accounts for 2010. Overall, DAA is set to announce group profits after tax of €39 million for 2010, nearly four times as much as it had budgeted for.
Exceptional items in 2009 – such as the costs associated with a voluntary severance scheme and an asset impairment charge – meant DAA recorded an after-tax loss of €13 million for that year.
The latest figures reveal that turnover at DAA rose 2 per cent to €558 million, up 2 per cent on 2009. This is 8 per cent behind DAA’s forecasted figure. But operating costs, which were €278 million according to these figures, were 13 per cent below what the company had budgeted for and 5 per cent lower than 2009. The company achieved large savings in payroll and related costs, which shrank from €173 million in 2009 to €156 million last year.
The company spent €229 million on its capital expenditure programme in 2010, less than it had budgeted and far below the €523 million spent in 2009 when Terminal 2 was under construction. The company’s net debt rose to €766 million in 2010, compared to €616 million in the previous year. DAA paid €2 million in dividends to the Government compared to the €24 million it paid in 2009.
DAA’s airport investment and retail arms were also profitable in 2010, according to these figures.