Mozambique Airports: 300% increase in losses bears weight of metical depreciation

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Mozambique Airports: 300% increase in losses bears weight of metical depreciation

2:28 CAT | 07 Oct 2016

mhoje_maputoairportcontroltower_photo_jpg

aeroportos.co.mz (File photo) / Maputo airport control tower

Mozambique Airports 2015 financial year results continued to be significantly affected by the depreciation of the metical against foreign currencies, with losses increasing 300 percent from 751,960,512 meticais in 2014 to a little over 3 billion meticais.

Turnover in 2015 grew by 22 percent compared to 2014, an increase, given the fact that aeronautical rates are indexed in dollars, “largely influenced by the appreciation of the dollar against the metical”.

The document also indicates that operating costs grew by 14 percent as a result of the sharp increase in depreciation costs of tangible assets (40 percent).

In terms of financial results, the company recorded a loss of 2,695,269,996 meticais, comprising the sum of losses and unrealised foreign exchange gains. The annual report speculates that the unrealised losses may be reversed in the future, depending on the evolution of the exchange rate against reference currencies.

The Transport & Storage sector recorded a growth of 4.3 percent, with overall performance positively influenced by the cutting for 30 days of National Road 1 in Zambézia as a result of floods in January 2015.

Traffic down 4.1%

Air passenger traffic carried by domestic companies fell by 4.1 percent from 788.8 million passenger-kilometres in 2014 to 756.2 million p/km. The depreciation of the metical, improvements in the road network and the increasing frequency of flights by foreign operators like Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways and Kenya Airways all contributed to the fall in demand.

Debt increased 18 percent

Mozambique Airports’ debt ratio grew 18 percent compared to 2014 on the back of loans obtained from the Deutsche Bank, the French Development Agency, Standard Bank and Moza Banco.

Liquidity however fell by about 35 percentage points, with the company’s ability to honour its short-term commitments from its equally short-term assets deteriorating.

Airports of Mozambique manages four international airports (Maputo, Beira, Nampula and Nacala), seven main aerodromes (Pemba, Tete, Lichinga, Inhambane, Chimoio, Quelimane and Vilankulo) and nine secondary aerodromes (Angoche, Bilene, Inhaca, Lumbo, Mocimboa da Praia, Ponta do Ouro, Costa do Sol, Ulónguè, Songo).

Source: O País