by HARIZAH KAMEL / Pic by TMR FILE PIX

MALAYSIA Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) posted a wider net loss to RM221.30 million in the first quarter ended Mar 31, 2021 (1Q21), versus a net loss of RM20.39 million it recorded in the corresponding period last year.

Loss per share for the quarter stood at 14.19 sen.

The airport operator’s quarterly revenue declined 63.92% year-on-year (YoY) to RM336.90 million in tandem with the significant contraction in passenger movements of 76.9% due to the prolonged Movement Control Order (MCO) and interstate travel ban.

In its announcement to Bursa Malaysia today, MAHB stated revenue from airport operations declined by 66.7% year-on-year (YoY) to RM291.9 million while revenue from the aeronautical segment decreased by 71.6% YoY to RM142.6 million.

Non-aeronautical segment decreased by 60.2% YoY to RM149.3 million largely due to lower duty-free revenue, lower commercial rental revenue impacted by sharp contraction of international passengers.

Its Malaysian and Turkish operations had recorded a decrease in revenue by 75.2% YoY to RM163.4 million and 39.5% YoY to RM152.2 million respectively.

The Qatar operations recorded a slight decrease from RM22.0 million to RM21.3 million on-year in the period.

MAHB recorded a loss before tax (LBT) of RM280.5 million that was cushioned with the reduction in core operational expenses by 22% as compared to the corresponding quarter driven by the group’s continuous cost containment initiatives.

MAHB stated it continues to take pre-emptive measures to mitigate its impact by implementing an aggressive cost optimisation plan including recalibrating operational efficiencies.

As at Mar 31, the group has achieved a reduction of 22% of the core operational expenses as compared to the corresponding quarter last year.