Hamilton airport is owned by five Waikato councils,
Hamilton airport is owned by five Waikato councils,
Belt-tightening by travellers in New Zealand’s economic crunch resulted in a dive in FY24 pre-tax profit for Hamilton’s airport group, offsetting good news for the regional gateway in winning a return of transtasman flights next year.
The airport, owned by five Waikato councils, reported a pre-tax profit of $3.6 million, down from $18.6m in the 2023 financial year.
A slow tourism market resulted in a combined loss of $500,000 for the airport and its Jet Park Hamilton Airport Hotel, two of the group’s subsidiaries.
Last month the airport announced direct transtasman flights would return to the city for the first time in 12 years, with Qantas subsidiary Jetstar providing services from June.
Land sales returned a gross margin of $2.8m to the group in FY24, also well down on $10.1m in land profits the previous year.
The group comprises Hamilton airport, the airport’s Jet Park hotel, industrial and commercial development arm Titanium Park and Hamilton and Waikato Tourism.
Group chief executive Mark Morgan said the fall in land profit was not a surprise.
“In 2022-2023 we saw record sales for Titanium Park which the successful completion of the fifth stage of the central precinct. We anticipated we would not get the same return from land sales this year and expect that to continue in the near future given the staged nature of our property development activities,” he said.
Non-cash valuation adjustments contributed net $1.4m to the group result.
Morgan said while aeronautical activity income rose, airline passenger numbers and hotel occupancy fell.
“Those trading businesses have definitely been impacted by some belt-tightening from domestic travellers and some very challenging economic conditions.”
The value of the airport’s diversification strategy, including its long-term investment in land holdings was evident in the difficult year, as it meant the group was not as exposed to the vagaries of the travel market as it might have been, he said.
Mark Morgan, CEO of Waikato Regional Airport Ltd, which operates Hamilton airport.
The FY24 net result also included a one-off $6.5m non-cash tax expense following a change in income tax law affecting buildings.
During the financial year, the group invested more than $7.3m in long-term assets and property development, growing its asset value to $274m.
The FY24 investment was made with only a $2.7m net increase in debt, Morgan said.
Total group debt was now $22.8m.
Of the $7.3m investment, $3.2m went into the aeronautical business including completion of an on-site solar farm and terminal seismic strengthening along with the acquisition of more aeronautical properties.
The group’s hotel at the airport obtained Qualmark 4 Star Plus accreditation during the year, making it only the second hotel property with this level of recognition in the greater Hamilton area, according to the group.
