SWISSPORT Tanzania has declared there will be no dividend to shareholders after its profit tumbled in the first half of this year due to business slowdown.
It said in its financial results for the
period, made available yesterday, that the profit had declined by 27
per cent and as a result it will not give dividend and use the funds to
support further investment.
“The board has decided not to declare
interim dividend and to use the funds to support further investment on
operating equipment and financing maturing obligations,” the statement
said.
Swissport said further that dividend was
not given “due to significant spending made on the cargo facility
(26.52bn/ )” as well as continued investment in new equipment and
technology in this year.
The airport ground handlers profit
declined to 6.27bn/- for the six months ended June compared to 8.64bn/-
of the corresponding period last year due to fall in flight frequencies
and volume of cargo.
The company’s financial results for the
six months ended June showed flight frequencies were 10 per cent below
the same period last year while the volume of cargo handled decreased by
7.0 per cent.
“The reduction in flight frequencies is a
result of the change in operational plan by some of our airline
customers while the decline in the volume of cargo handled is mainly due
to general decrease of imports for the period under review,” stated the
report.
There is an increased competition in the
ground handling business at Julius Nyerere International Airport and
Kilimanjaro International Airport after new operators came in.
“Whilst we retained our customer
portfolio, despite the competitive environment, the decline in revenue
was attributable to reduced volumes in both product lines,” reads part
of the statement.
The prospects of the performance of our
airline customers indicate no significant change of their performance to
the year ends while cargo volumes are expected to remain constant.
To cope with the changing and demanding
business environment, Swissport will continue to enhance operational
performance, investing in ground handling equipment, technology and
human resources development.
The company’s revenue for the period under review went down by 12 per cent to 26.10bn/- from 29.53bn/- in 2016.
Despite revenue decrease, operating
costs remained the same as prior year mainly due to the amortisation of
the new cargo import facility which has largely offset the savings made
year to date.
Consequently, profit before tax decreased by 28 per cent from 12.34bn/- to 8.92bn/-
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