KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) reported a net loss of RM91.07 million in the second quarter (Q2) ended June 30, 2020, from a net profit of RM160.08 million a year ago.
In an exchange filing today, the airport operator said this was mainly due to significant contraction in passenger movements by 96.0 per cent owing to the global impact of Covid-19 pandemic and prolonged Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia and other countries.
Its Q2 revenue plummeted 78.6 per cent to RM272.18 million year-on-year (YoY) from RM1.26 billion previously.
MAHB said the aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue had shrunk 93.1 per cent to RM45.6 million and 63.4 per cent to RM193.1 million respectively.
Its non-airport operations revenue slipped 51.5 per cent or RM35.6 million due to lower revenue from the project and repair maintenance and hotel businesses.
For the first half, MAHB posted a net loss of RM111.45 million from a net profit of 309.67 million, while revenue was down 51.8 per cent to RM1.21 billion from RM2.51 billion previously.
In a separate statement, MAHB said passenger traffic for Malaysia operations had declined 62.4 per cent to 19.2 million passengers in 1H of 2020.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) recorded a 63.8 per cent reduction of passenger traffic to 11.0 million passengers in 1H of 2020, while other local airports posted an aggregate decline of 60.4 per cent to 8.2 million passengers.
However, MAHB said local traffic movement had gradually shown signs of improvement, especially the domestic sector with the uplifting of the interstate travel ban following the enforcement of the Recovery Movement Control Order.
"As a result, airlines are now allowed to operate up to full capacity serving predominantly the domestic passengers."
It said traffic levels had yet to gain its full momentum, despite gaining positive trajectory, while travel restrictions were still in place for international travellers, as the country has not fully opened its borders.
MAHB said the removal of the interstate travel ban by the government had given a good ground for an early stage of traffic recovery, catalysed by the domestic sectors.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry had launched the domestic tourism recovery programme aiming to revive the industry, promoting local attractions and the country as a safe tourism destination.
MAHB collaborated with Tourism Malaysia to organise the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia Mini Travel Fair at KLIA in conjunction with the recent KLIA Crazy Sales.
Coupled with other initiatives by the government, such as Reciprocal Green Lane and ongoing discussions on the formation of travel bubbles with other cities or regions, the efforts point in the direction of traffic recovery, with domestic and regional travel likely to be the first to bounce back.
Meanwhile, MAHB interstate travel restrictions in Turkey had been removed on June 1, followed by the reopening of the country's borders on June 11, thus allowing Istanbul Sabiha Gokchen International Airport (ISG) to resume its operations accordingly.
ISG's passenger's traffic in 1H declined 54.9 per cent to 7.7 million passengers.
Following the resumption of operations in ISG, the main carriers have gradually increased frequencies to both domestic and international destinations.
On the international front, European and Middle Eastern countries have progressively opened their borders to other neighbouring nations.
Group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said MAHB would remain steadfast in fulfilling its duties as the custodian of the country's gateways, especially in ensuring the safety of its passengers and airport community.
"We will continue containing the spread and effects of Covid-19 by implementing the necessary safety measures at our airports," he said.
He said the absence of traditional revenue sources presented the need for airports globally to reformulate its strategy and to devise innovative approaches in diversifying revenue streams and trimming down expenses.
"We have identified several key areas to improve our cost structure and is on track to reduce its operating cost by 20 percent. These include consolidation of underutilised terminal areas, revision of maintenance schedules as well as the deferment of non-critical maintenance capital expenditures," he added.