The Emirates Group has announced its yearly results in which it exhibits a thirtieth consecutive year of profit and steady business expansion.
In its 2017-2018 report, the Emirates Group posted a profit of AED 4.1 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) for the financial year ending 31 March 2018, up 67% from 2017.
The group’s revenue reached AED 102.4 billion (US$ 27.9.billion), an increase of 8% over last year’s results.
In line with the overall profit, the group declared a dividend of AED 2.0 billion (US$ 545 million) to the Investment Corporation of Dubai.
His Highness (H.H.) Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, said: “Business conditions in 2017-18, while improved, remained tough.
“We saw ongoing political instability, currency volatility and devaluations in Africa, rising oil prices which drove our costs up, and downward pressure on margins from relentless competition.
“On the positive side, we benefitted from a healthy recovery in the global air cargo industry, as well as the relative strengthening of key currencies against the US dollar.”
In 2017-18, the Emirates group collectively invested AED 9.0 billion (US$ 2.5 billion) in new aircraft and equipment, the acquisition of companies, modern facilities, the latest technologies, and staff initiatives.
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Emirates SkyCargo recorded a strong performance in a resurgent market, and continues to play an integral role in the company’s expanding operations, contributing 14% of the airline’s total transport revenue.
In an airfreight market with fast-changing demand patterns, Emirates’ cargo division reported a revenue of AED12.4 billion (US$3.4 billion), an impressive increase of 17% over 2017, while tonnage carried slightly increased by 2% to reach 2.6 million tonnes.
Emirates’ SkyCargo’s total freighter fleet stood at 13 Boeing 777Fs.
In addition to belly-hold capacity to Emirates’ new passenger destinations, Emirates SkyCargo launched new freighter services to Maastricht (Netherlands), Luxembourg, and Aguadilla (Puerto Rico).
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Emirates SkyCargo continued to develop innovative, bespoke products tailored to key industry sectors, in November 2017, it signed an MoU with Dubai CommerCity to develop new solutions for the e-commerce sector using Dubai as a hub.
Emirates SkyCargo also launched Emirates Fresh for perishable commodities such as fresh cut flowers, fruits and vegetables recently.
In its 59 years of operation, 2017-18 has been the Dubai National Air Transport Association’s (dnata) most profitable year, crossing AED1.3 billion (US$359 million) profit for the first time.
Building on its strong results in the previous year, dnata's revenue grew to AED13.1 billion (US$3.6 billion), up 7%.
dnata’s international business now accounts for 68% of its revenue.
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