p16 city May 8 6/5/09 20:04 Page 16
City & finance
Keep up to date with the travel industry’s financial news and results at ttglive.com
BAA: more cash,
fewer passengers
Chris Gray.
Heathrow saw the smallest fall, with a 6.4%
BAA’s three London airports increased their first- year-on-year drop to 14.4 million, while Gatwick
Insolvencies up
quarter income from airlines by nearly a third to and Stansted both saw falls of 14.6%.
£305m, as passenger numbers fell 10%. The biggest fall in traffic was on UK routes,
The biggest increase was at Heathrow, where which fell 12% to 2.4 million, followed by Europe,
145% in 2009
income from airlines increased by 42% to £207.6 which dropped 11%, and long-haul, down 8%.
million. Gatwick rose by 25% to £44m, but The rise in income from airlines helped BAA
Stansted’s income dropped 12% to £24m. (SP) Ltd make an operating profit of £11m, down
ACCOUNTANCY firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has BAA revealed the figures in its financial £16m on the same period last year.
warned there will be no immediate upturn in results for the three months to the end of March However, debt payments of £327m took its
travel, as figures showed insolvencies in the for BAA (SP) Ltd, its subsidiary company that pre-tax losses to £316m. Overall, BAA (SP) Ltd
sector are up 145%. runs the three London airports. owes £9.7bn.
PwC director Ian Oakley-Smith said travel It accepted the rises were mainly down to the BAA chief executive Colin Matthews warned
should expect reduced activity for the next three increase in tariffs it charges airlines, which the the rest of the year would be “difficult”.
to five years. CAA allowed despite objections from carriers. The results cover BAA’s three London airports,
Insolvencies in the sector in the first quarter The growth in revenue came at the same time rather than all seven of its airports. BAA reports
of 2009 were up 80% on the fourth quarter of as passenger numbers at the three airports fell on its London airports quarterly because they
2008 and 145% up year-on-year. 10% year-on-year, to 24.8 million. are responsible for most of its debt.
The collapse of XL Leisure Group in 2008 dom-
inated the fourth-quarter figures, accounting for
13 firms. But Oakley-Smith said this year had
seen a larger number of small firms collapse.
“History shows there has always been a strong
correlation between total consumer spend and
consumer spend on travel,” he said.
“In the last recession, holidays were impacted
at both volume and value levels. This is likely to
Capital gains
recur and will take its toll on travel companies.
A steep increase in income
“The fundamentals suggest that demand will from airline tariffs helped
not quickly return to the previously high levels.
offset a drop in passenger
numbers at BAA’s three
“It is now easier for consumers to skim off the
London airports between
number of discretionary short breaks and keep
January and March 2009
the standard, traditional holiday.”
PwC’s recession prescription
Midlands Co-op reports £260m sales
■ Avoid making any short-term decisions
and focus on guiding your business THE MIDLANDS CO-OP travel business saw sales for the 12 months to the end of January, up 7%.
through a medium-term recession increase to £260 million as a part of an overall Overall revenue rose 6% to £848 million, and
■ Ensure you have good-quality and regular rise in the group’s profits this year. all divisions reported an increase in sales.
information to predict the impact of any Midlands’ travel performance was helped by a The foreign exchange operation was boosted
reduction in bookings rise in holiday prices, despite a fall in booking by the acquisition of the Eurochange business.
■ Monitor website and telephone enquiries numbers, mirroring that in the industry. General manager Ken Smith said sales of
as a way of raising the alarm in advance The group would not reveal the year-on-year inhouse products Co-op Breaks and Co-op
of any drop-off in bookings increase in travel sales. But the group, including Holidays were outperforming the market.
■ Set aside cash reserves its supermarket, funeral, property and transport
businesses, made a profit of £16.2 million ■ Co-operative Travel results: ttglive.com
16 08.05.2009
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