Changi Airport Group narrows losses to S$838 million on return of travel

CHANGI Airport Group narrowed its losses to S$838 million for the year ended Mar 31, 2022, down from S$954 million in the previous year, on the back of a rebound in air travel as restrictions ease.

Full-year passenger traffic stood at 5.2 million in FY2021/22, at about 8 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels, the group said in an exchange filing on Thursday (Jun 9).

Passenger numbers in March 2022 went up to 1.14 million, or 20 per cent of pre-Covid levels - its highest since the start of the pandemic.

The group registered its first net loss in FY2020/21, when passenger arrivals fell 98 per cent from the previous year to just 1.1 million.

Revenue for FY2021/22 rose 35 per cent year on year to S$944 million, but the group remained in the red, taking into account its deconsolidation losses, write-down of investments in Russia, as well as depreciation and amortisation charges.

The group said the challenging business and economic environment in Brazil made it untenable for it to operate the Tom Jobim Airport in Rio de Janeiro, under the terms of an existing concession agreement. The group deconsolidated Concessionária Aeroporto Rio de Janeiro as a subsidiary and recognised it as an equity-accounted investee. It therefore registered a deconsolidation loss of S$128 million.

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Changi Airport Group said it also faced difficulty participating in its Russia investments’ financial and operational activities due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It recorded a full write-down of S$201 million relating to its investments in Russia due to uncertainty as well as disruptions to airport operations.

The group raised S$750 million through bond issuances to strengthen its liquidity position during the financial year. It also secured a S$2 billion revolving credit facility as a standby source of liquidity. As at Mar 31, 2022, it had cash and marketable securities totalling S$1.9 billion.

Chief executive Lee Seow Hiang said the path to recovery will present new challenges, such as operational disruptions due to manpower and capacity dislocations.

“Our focus will be on ensuring that Changi Airport upholds its service excellence and core capabilities to be a well-connected, safe and efficient global aviation hub as travel starts to pick up,” Lee said.

Changi Airport has since increased its direct city links to 125, representing more than 70 per cent of its pre-Covid network.