- On track for ninth consecutive year of growth – More passengers than ever are choosing to fly from Heathrow with a record 61 million passengers (+0.7%) travelling through the UK’s hub airport already this year. This puts us on course to secure our ninth consecutive year of passenger growth
- Investment in service driving growth – Better service for passengers continues to be one of the main drivers underpinning passenger growth. Service scores maintained their high with 82% of passengers rating their experience as either “Excellent” or “Very Good” following £489 million of investment to boost airport efficiency, resilience and security
- Strong financial performance – Strong retail performance and more passengers pushed Heathrow’s revenue up to £2,302 million and increased EBITDA by 1.3% to £1,454 million. Adjusted profit before tax also strengthened by 40.1%
- Expansion benefits – The tangible benefits of expansion are already materialising. Virgin Atlantic outlined credible plans to create a second flag carrier at Heathrow with over 80 new services helping to drive down airfares through increased competition and choice for passengers. We are also currently reviewing feedback from our latest consultation and will submit our planning application next year
- Reducing carbon emissions – Heathrow welcomes the Committee on Climate Change’s recent report recommending that aviation be included in the UK’s target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Heathrow will operate carbon neutral airport infrastructure from 2020 and we are developing a number of bold options to substantially cut or offset aircraft emissions associated with the airport. Alongside moves by airlines – including IAG’s recent announcement to offset all UK domestic flights from 2020 – the UK aviation industry is taking credible action to decarbonise
Heathrow Chief Financial Officer Javier Echave said:
“Heathrow is on-track for another year of record performance – which is great news for UK plc. Passengers are getting a better service, we have consulted on a strong masterplan to expand and we can see lower airfares and more airline choice for passengers appearing on the horizon. New investments in technology and a more sustainable supply chain are helping us to build a better Heathrow for the future - but carbon emissions remain the aviation industry’s most pressing challenge. We are committed to overcoming it and we will be outlining our own bold plans to reduce or offset aircraft emissions at Heathrow in the coming months.”
At or for the nine months ended 30 September | 2018 | 2019 | Change (%) |
(£m unless otherwise stated) |
|
|
|
Revenue | 2,211 | 2,302 | 4.1 |
EBITDA(1) | 1,435 | 1,454 | 1.3 |
Cash generated from operations | 1,336 | 1,463 | 9.5 |
Adjusted profit before tax(2) | 212 | 297 | 40.1 |
|
|
|
|
Heathrow (SP) Limited consolidated nominal net debt(3) | 12,407 | 12,844 | 3.5 |
Heathrow Finance plc consolidated net debt(3) | 13,980 | 14,175 | 1.4 |
Regulatory Asset Base(3) | 16,200 | 16,529 | 2.0 |
|
|
|
|
Passengers (million)(4) | 60.5 | 61.0 | 0.7 |
Retail revenue per passenger (£)(4) | 8.59 | 8.79 | 2.3 |
Notes
(1) EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation
(2) Adjusted profit before tax is profit before tax and certain re-measurements (excluding fair value gain / loss on investment properties and financial instruments). See page 7 for reconciliation to loss before tax. For the nine months to 30 September 2019 loss before tax was (£76) million (2018: £426 million profit). The loss before tax for the nine-month period to 30 September 2019 includes £368 million non-cash fair value loss on derivatives as a result of increased inflation expectations and a downward shift in the 6 month LIBOR curve affecting both index-linked and interest rate swaps. The derivatives have been entered to economically hedge RPI linked revenue and the Regulatory Asset Base
(3) 2018 net debt and RAB figures at 31 December 2018. Nominal net debt excludes intra-group loans and includes inflation-linked accretion
(4) Changes in passengers and retail revenue per passenger are calculated using unrounded passenger numbers
