- Total revenue and other income up 13.8% to $1.2 billion
- Pre-tax profit up 21.5%
- Strong passenger and capacity growth
Kazakhstan-based airline Air Astana (AIRA) reported a 21.5% increase in pre-tax profit to $68.7 million for the 12 months ending 31 December 2023.
The company reported total revenue of $1.2 billion, up 13.8% on the prior year as passenger numbers increased 10.1% to a record 8.1 million.
CEO of Air Astana, Peter Foster said: ‘Air Astana delivered another strong year of growth in 2023 with record passenger numbers and increased capacity. All our markets continue to perform well, and we have demonstrated our ability to grow the business and maintain sector-leading margins while managing cost headwinds across the industry.
‘The IPO (initial public offering) proceeds will enable us to further expand our operations and increase our carrying capacity. We are well positioned to capture the growth opportunities from developing the underserved aviation market in Kazakhstan and improving international connectivity.’
The airline is dual listed in London and Kazakhstan and defence giant BAE Systems (BA) has less than 16% holding in the company.
Air Astana completed its IPO on 14 February after bagging a valuation of $847 million, equivalent to $9.5 per share.
Today’s full year results are their first since the IPO was completed.
KEY DESTINATIONS
The average load factor for the full year was 82.8% compared to 82.7% in the same year ago.
The company also increased the number of flights to key destinations like Turkey, India, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Georgia and the Gulf, and expanded number of flights to China.
Air Astana announced new routes to Jeddah and Doha, as well as FlyArystan’s seasonal routes from regions to Antalya and Dubai.
BRITISH AIRWAYS OWNER IAG UPGRADED
Separately it was good news for International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) shareholders after analysts turned positive on the stock.
At the end of February, IAG announced record operating profit of €3.5 billion in 2023 boosted by high demand for holidays showing the airline’s recovery is well under way post pandemic.
Shares were up over 4% to 155p in morning trading.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said: ‘Analysts are turning positive on the stock and following last week’s upgrade by JPMorgan Cazenove, BNP Paribas Exane followed suit by switching from a negative to a positive view.
‘This follows news earlier this week that Moody’s has put the company’s credit rating on review for an upgrade. A higher credit rating gives investors more comfort over the risks associated with owning the shares.'
Disclaimer: Financial services company AJ Bell referenced in the article owns Shares magazine. The author of the article (Sabuhi Gard) and the editor (Martin Gamble) own shares in AJ Bell.
