Sydney Airport secures A$850m debt facilities as traffic plunges

[BENGALURU] Australia's Sydney Airport Holdings on Monday said it secured additional bank debt facilities worth A$850 million (S$768 million) to weather the massive slump in passenger traffic due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Provisional data for the first 16 days of April showed the airport operator's international passenger traffic plunging 96.1 per cent, with domestic passenger traffic tanking 97.4 per cent, according to the company's statement.

Sydney Airport and Sydney Airport Trust 1, which together form the Sydney Airport Group, said it would not declare interim distributions for the half-year ending June 2020, against a total of 19.5 cents per security declared last year.

The airport operator is also targeting a 35 per cent reduction in operating costs for 12 months starting April 1 to cushion the impact of lower activity seen due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has, as of Sunday, killed 71 in Australia and infected nearly 6,600 people.

With the new facilities, Sydney Airport said it now has combined liquidity of A$2.8 billion and is targeting capital investment of between A$150 million and A$200 million for a year starting April 1.

"We remain confident in the strength of our balance sheet and liquidity position, but we will continue to tightly manage liquidity and operating and capital expenditure to reflect the significant reduction in passenger traffic at the airport," said chief executive officer Geoff Culbert.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

The operator announced a 20 per cent reduction in the chief executive's fixed remuneration for three months until June 30, while other directors also agreed to a 20 per cent reduction to their fees over the same period.

In March, total traffic fell 45.1 per cent to 2 million passengers, while international traffic tanked almost 48 per cent to nearly 700,000 passengers from a year earlier.

REUTERS