Queensland Airports Limited (QAL)
| AIX interest in QAL: | 49.1% |
| Other HFM interest in QAL: | 36.7% |
QAL owns and operates three key airport facilities in Queensland, Australia: Gold Coast Airport provides access to a major tourist destination and is the sixth busiest airport in Australia; Townsville Airport serves as North Queensland's regional hub, supported by local military, government and industrial activity; and Mount Isa Airport is the hub for the North West Queensland Mineral Province, servicing the local mining and commercial sectors.
Performance highlights 2011
For the 2011 financial year, total revenue was $112.1 million and EBITDA was $70.2 million, increases of 11.9 percent and 15.9 percent respectively on the prior year. This reflected solid passenger growth across the QAL Group of 4.8 percent compared with the prior year, supported by a 5.2 percent increase in seat capacity, as well as higher passenger yields following redevelopment of the Gold Coast Airport terminal.
Gold Coast Airport experienced a strong start to the financial year, with record numbers passing through the airport in January 2011. However, the second half of the year saw a series of natural disasters in Queensland, Japan and New Zealand which disrupted the strong growth momentum, and demand was further dampened by the continued strength of the Australian dollar decreasing the relative attractiveness of the Gold Coast as a holiday destination compared to offshore destinations. For the full year, Gold Coast Airport achieved domestic passenger growth of 5.6 percent on the prior year, benefiting from the introduction of daily Jetstar services to Hobart and Perth in December 2010 and April 2011 respectively, with Gold Coast Airport now connected to every capital city across Australia outside of Queensland.
International passengers through Gold Coast Airport (excluding transits) increased 4.0 percent on the prior year, supported by Jetstar's new Queenstown service from December 2010. Townsville Airport observed steady passenger growth and finished 4.6 percent ahead of the prior year, while Mount Isa Airport exceeded expectations with double digit growth of 19.4 percent on the prior year reflecting increased mining activity.
In August 2010, Gold Coast Airport unveiled a new 950-space car park and was also awarded both Best Regional Airport and Staff Service Excellence for the Australia-Pacific region at the Skytrax World Airport Awards in March 2011. Townsville Airport gained approval for its Master Plan during the year, while Gold Coast Airport's Master Plan will soon be made available for public comment.
QAL has also recently commenced managing operations at Longreach Airport and will acquire a 99-year airport lease from the Longreach Regional Council in July 2012. The airport is currently undergoing a redevelopment, with investments in the terminal building, car park and other associated works to be funded largely by the Federal Government.
Performance outlook
The outlook for QAL Group airports is positive with continued growth expected over the long term. This growth may be tempered in the short term by challenges that currently exist, such as the high Australian dollar and as affected regions recover from natural disasters. However, the return of seat capacity to Gold Coast scheduled for July and August is promising.
QAL is currently in discussions with banks to refinance its debt facilities, ahead of the facilities maturing in April 2012.
Queensland Airports Limited
Financial and operational performance
| 30 June year end | 2007 | 2008 | 2009(1) | 2010(1) | 2011(1) | CAGR* |
| Passengers (m) | 5.3 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 8.5% |
| Revenue ($m) | 64.2 | 73.8 | 82.7 | 100.1 | 112.1 | 14.9% |
| EBITDA ($m) | 43.8 | 42.2 | 43.5 | 60.6 | 70.2 | 12.5% |
* CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate
(1) Revenue and EBITDA normalised to exclude non-recurring income from Technical Services Agreement.
For more information please visit the Queensland Airports Limited website.
For historical Annual Reports please click here.