Auckland Airport boosts FY underlying profit, hikes dividend
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The news: Auckland Airport said a strong return of international airline capacity helped drive underlying profit up nearly 90% in the 2024 financial year.
The numbers: New Zealand's largest airport reported underlying profit after tax of NZD276.6 million ($252.58 million), and 87% rise on the previous year. Revenue was up 43% to NZD895.5 million, while the company declared a total dividend of 13.25 cents per share, up from 4 cents a year ago.
Total number of passengers increased 17% to 18.5 million. The number of domestic passengers rose 5% to 8.5 million while international passenger numbers increased 29% to 10.1 million.
Auckland Airport guided underlying profit after tax between NZD280 million and NZD320 million for the 2025 financial year, with total passenger numbers of around 19.1 million.
The context: Auckland Airport said FY24 was marked by a strong return of international airline capacity, including several new carriers and routes, with seat availability to international destinations at 91% of 2019 levels.
The company noted that a lift in capacity, particularly on North American routes, as well as greater connectivity with China, has driven a resurgence in international passengers.
However, Auckland Airport noted that where there is less capacity and competition on routes, particularly across the Tasman, airfares remain "stubbornly high", resulting in fewer Australians choosing to fly to New Zealand.
What they said: "Looking ahead, a global backlog of replacement aircraft orders has seen airlines prioritising available fleet on high-yield routes and holding back on a full return to long-haul destinations," said CEO Carrie Hurihanganui.
"With these headwinds, we are anticipating a longer timeframe for achieving a full capacity recoovery to pre-2019 levels," she said.
The source: ASX announcement
