Assets

Overview

QAL owns and operates three key airport facilities in Queensland: Gold Coast Airport (GCA) 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.

Performance

QAL generated a return of 22.1 percent for the year ended 30 June 2012 and 37.4 percent per annum since inception. As at 30 June 2012, QAL represented 17.4 percent of the AIX portfolio by value.

For the 2012 financial year, total revenue was $123.2 million and EBITDA was $74.7 million, increases of 6.9 percent and 8.5 percent respectively on the prior year. With passenger numbers across the QAL group declining 1.0 percent over the same period, this is a strong result and is attributable to strong trading revenue achieved as QAL continues to benefit from its recent investment in terminal and car parking infrastructure.

Gold Coast passenger numbers were 2.3 percent below the prior year, with domestic passengers down 2.3 percent and international passengers down 2.2 percent. Gold Coast Airport, which services a tourist destination, was affected by the high Australian dollar, making overseas destinations more attractive, the residual affects of the natural disasters in Queensland, Japan and New Zealand in 2010/2011; and reduced discretionary spending as a result of general economic conditions.

A return to growth was evident in the second half of the financial year, with GCA delivering 4.6 percent growth in passenger numbers for the five months to June 2012 compared to the prior year.

Domestic capacity increases are expected in the coming months as Tiger resume services suspended in the prior year and Jetstar and Virgin reinstate additional daily services on trunk routes. The introduction of a direct Singapore service by Scoot Airlines out of Gold Coast, which commenced five times weekly from June 2012, is also expected to have a positive affect.

Townsville Airport achieved positive passenger growth on the prior year of 1.2 percent and Mount Isa continues to improve its passenger numbers with growth of 13.7 percent on the prior year, largely driven by the resources sector.

In December 2011 QAL successfully refinanced its existing debt facilities and secured additional capacity to fund further expansion and upgrade works at its three airports. Other highlights during the 2012 financial year included the approval of the Gold Coast Airport Master Plan and the opening of the Virgin Lounge at Gold Coast Airport on 30 May 2012.

Outlook

The outlook for QAL Group airports is positive with continued growth expected over the long term. Return of seat capacity to Gold Coast in July and August is promising, however challenges remain, including the high Australian dollar and general economic conditions in Australia and overseas.

Queensland Airports Limited
Financial and operational performance

* CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate
(1) Revenue and EBITDA normalised to exclude non-recurring income from Technical Services Agreement.

For a copy of the 2011 Annual Report please click the following link: QAL 2011 Annual Report.

For a copy of the 2011 Annual Financial Report please click the following link: QAL 2011 Financial Report.

For more information please visit the Queensland Airports Limited website.

For historical Annual Reports please click here.