BAA (SP) Limited owns BAA's three London airports of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. Throughout this document, BAA (SP) Limited and its subsidiaries are referred to as the Group.
● Adjusted EBITDA up 16.8%
- strong cost control with underlying operating costs down 3.3%
- resilient revenues driven by higher tariffs and strong retail performance
● Improved operational performance with Heathrow outperforming competitors and achieving better punctuality and airport service quality scores
● Sale of Gatwick to Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion announced
● Net sale proceeds to be used to repay debt including £1 billion maturing in March 2010
● DfT's recent announcement on regulation removes key uncertainties for airport investment
● Pre-tax loss reflects over £670 million of non-cash charges including:
- £261.7 million exceptional item relating to an increased pension scheme deficit
- £225.0 million impairment loss reflecting the difference between Gatwick's sale price and its carrying value
- £136.1 million of fair value losses on financial instruments
● Outlook for 2009 remains consistent with expectations
At or for nine months ended 30 September (figures in £m unless otherwise stated) | Unaudited 2009 (1) | Unaudited pro forma 2008 (1) (2) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
Revenues | 1,846.0 | 1,716.2 | 7.6 |
Adjusted EBITDA (3) | 804.6 | 689.0 | 16.8 |
Cash generated from operations | 742.8 | 517.7 | 43.5 |
Adjusted pre-tax loss (4) | (111.5) | (33.2) | (235.8) |
Pre-tax loss | (784.7) | (519.5) | (51.0) |
Net debt (5) (6) | 9,771.0 | 9,426.0 | (3.7) |
Regulatory Asset Base (6) | 13,155.7 | 12,470.2 | 5.5 |
Passengers (m) | 90.7 | 96.0 | (5.5) |
Net retail income per passenger | £4.64 | £4.37 | 6.1 |
Notes
(1) Includes the results of Gatwick which is classified as a discontinued operation in the profit and loss account in Appendix 1
(2) Profit and loss figures for 2008 are prepared on a pro forma basis assuming consolidation of Heathrow Express Operating Company Limited although it was not acquired by the Group until 7 August 2008
(3) Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and exceptional items
(4) Adjusted pre-tax loss is before exceptional items and fair value adjustments
(5) Nominal value of net debt excluding intra-BAA group loans and including index-linked derivative accretion
(6) 2008 net debt and Regulatory Asset Base figures are as at 31 December 2008 rather than 30 September 2008
Colin Matthews, Chief Executive Officer of BAA, said: "We have delivered a good performance in line with expectations for the first nine months of the year, helped by Heathrow's continued resilience, higher retail spending by passengers and tight cost control. Our London airports are strongly cash generative and our debt and underlying interest costs are stable.
"We are pleased to have agreed the sale of Gatwick Airport and our focus for the rest of the year is on improving efficiency and service standards for our customers, and further reducing costs. The accounting losses we are reporting today reflect non-cash exceptional charges and do not reflect the strong underlying performance of the business."
