DUBAI, UAE, 10 May 2019: The Emirates Group announced, Thursday, its 31st consecutive year of profit and steady business expansion.
According to the 2018-19 annual report, the Emirates group posted a profit of AED2.3 billion (USD631 million) for the financial year ended 31 March 2019, down 44% from last year.
The group’s revenue reached AED109.3 billion (USD29.8 billion), an increase of 7% over last year’s results. The group’s cash balance was AED22.2 billion (USD6 billion), down 13% from last year mainly due to large investments into the business, including significant acquisitions and payment of last year’s AED2 billion (USD545 million) dividend.
In line with the overall profit, the group declared a dividend of AED 500 million (USD136 million) to the Investment Corporation of Dubai for 2018-19.
His Highness (H.H.) Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, said: “2018-19 has been tough, and our performance was not as strong as we would have liked. Higher oil prices and the strengthened US dollar eroded our earnings, even as competition intensified in our key markets. The uptick in global airfreight demand from the previous year appears to have gone into reverse gear, and we also saw travel demand weaken, particularly in our region, impacting both dnata and Emirates.
“Every business cycle is different, and we continue to work smart and hard to tackle the challenges and take advantage of opportunities. Our goal has always been to build a profitable, sustainable, and responsible business based in Dubai, and these principles continue to guide our decisions and investments. In 2018-19, Emirates and dnata delivered our 31st consecutive year of profit, recorded growth across the business, and invested in initiatives and infrastructure that will secure our future success.”
In 2018-19, the Group collectively invested AED14.6 billion (USD3.9 billion) in new aircraft and equipment, the acquisition of companies, modern facilities, the latest technologies, and staff initiatives, a significant increase over last year’s investment spend of AED 9.0 billion (USD2.5 billion).
In February, Emirates announced a commitment for 40 A330-900s and 30 A350-900s worth USD21.4 billion at list prices in an agreement signed with Airbus, to be delivered from 2021 and 2024 respectively. The airline will also receive 14 more A380 deliveries from 2019 until the end of 2021, taking its total A380 order book to 123 units.
The full 2018-19 Annual Report of the Emirates Group – comprising Emirates, dnata and their subsidiaries – is available at:https://www.emirates.com/ae/english/about-us/business-model/financial-transparency.aspx
USD figures are converted at 1USD = 3.67AED and are based on the full AED figures before rounding.
