Emirates Reports US$2.5 billion H1 net profit | Arabian Weekly

Arabian Weekly Staff

Dubai state-owned Emirates Group that operates the world’s largest international carrier, Emirates Airline, reported a record profit before tax of Dh10.4 billion (US$2.8 billion) for the first six months of 2024-25, its best-ever half-year financial performance, surpassing its record profit before tax for the same period last year.

This is the first financial year that the UAE corporate income tax, enacted in 2023, is applied to the Emirates Group. After accounting for the 9 percent tax charge, the Group’s profit after tax is Dh9.3 billion (US$2.5 billion).

Demonstrating its strong operating profitability, the Group maintained a robust EBITDA of Dh20.4 billion (US$5.6 billion), slightly lower from Dh20.6 billion (US$5.6 billion) last year.

Group revenue was Dh70.8 billion (US$19.3 billion) for the first six months of 2024-25, up 5 percent from Dh67.3 billion (US$18.3 billion) last year. This reflects the consistently strong customer demand across business divisions, and across regions, the airline said in a statement.

The Group closed the first half year of 2024-25 with a solid cash position of Dh43.7 billion (US$11.9 billion) on 30 September 2024, compared to Dh47.1 billion (US$12.8 billion) on 31 March 2024. The Group has been able to tap on its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including payments for new freighter aircraft orders and other debt payments. The Group also paid Dh2 billion in dividend to its owner, as declared at the end of its 2023-24 financial year.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said: “The Group has surpassed its record performance of last year to deliver a fantastic result for the first half of 2024-25. This again illustrates the power of our proven business model working in combination with Dubai’s growth trajectory as a city of choice to live, work, visit, connect through, and do business in.

“The Group’s strong profitability enables us to make the investments necessary for our continued success. We’re investing billions of dollars to bring new products and services to the market for our customers; to implement advanced technologies and other innovation projects to drive growth; and to look after our employees who work hard every day to ensure our customers’ safety and satisfaction.”

Emirates Airline’s profit before tax for the first half of 2024-25 hit a new record of Dh9.7 billion (US$2.6 billion), compared to Dh9.5 billion (US$2.6 billion) for the same period last year. Emirates profit after tax is Dh8.7 billion (US$2.4 billion).

Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of Dh62.2 billion (US$16.9 billion) was up 5 percent compared with Dh59.5 billion (US$16.2 billion) for the same period last year. The airline’s new record revenue can be attributed to consistently strong travel and air cargo demand across markets, and its ability to offer customers great value and services.

Emirates’ direct operating costs (including fuel) grew by 6 percent in line with increased operations. Fuel remains the largest component of the airline’s operating cost (32%), compared to 34 percent in the same period last year.

Driven by customer demand and increased operations during the six months, Emirates’ EBITDA of Dh19.1 billion (US$5.2 billion) remained very strong, although slightly down by 2 percent compared to Dh19.5 billion (US$5.3 billion) for the same period last year.

Emirates carried 26.9 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2024, up 3 percent from the same period last year.

To support increased operations and business activities, the Emirates Group’s employee base, compared to 31 March 2024, grew 3 percent to an overall count of 114,610 on 30 September 2024. Both Emirates and dnata have ongoing recruitment drives to support their future requirements.

Emirates continued to enhance its network and increase connectivity options through its Dubai hub. During the first half of 2024-25, Emirates increased scheduled flights to 8 cities: Amsterdam, Cebu, Clark, Luanda, Lyon, Madrid, Manila and Singapore.

Overall capacity during the first six months of the year increased by 5% to 29.9 billion Available Tonne Kilometres (ATKM) due to expanded flight operations. Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKM), increased by 4 percent, whilst passenger traffic carried measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKM) was up by 2 percent with an average Passenger Seat Factor of 80.0 percent, compared with 81.5 percent during the same period last year.

Emirates SkyCargo transported 1,198,000 tonnes in the first six months of the year, up 16 percent compared to the same period last year, with notable volume contributions from strong Chinese eCommerce traffic, and a rise in shipments bound for Dubai.

Also published on Medium.