The largely local-authority owned Manchester Airports Group has posted strong growth in its profits after a 'record breaking' summer season.
Announcing its interim unaudited half-year results for the six months to the end of September, the group said revenues increased by 12.9% to £544.6m and passenger numbers were up 9.1% year-on-year to 34.9m.
MAG is managed on behalf of its shareholders which include Manchester City Council (35.5%), IFM Investors (35.5%) and the nine other Greater Manchester local authorities (29%).
It owns and operates Manchester, Stanstead and East Midlands airports and has just completed the sale of Bournemouth Airport, saying the cash raised will be invested in its other airports.
The group says increased revenues have been driven by aviation income with additional capacity and higher load factors, while non-aviation revenues were boosted by retail growth following investment across the airports in food and beverage, retail and car-parking facilities.
CEO Charlie Cornish said: 'Our latest results demonstrate that MAG is a strong and resilient business that is confident in its future growth prospects, and one that through the significant investment it is making is demonstrating its commitment to meeting long term customer needs.'
