GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd on January 28 reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 64 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 on the back of a Rs 408.6 crore exceptional gain seen during the quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing.
The exceptional gain seen during the quarter was due to GMR Airports International BV a subsidiary of GMR Airports receiving the first tranche of payment from Aboitiz Infra Capital Inc to acquire shares in Aboitiz GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp, the company that operates Mactan Cebu International Airport in Philippines.
GAIBV had received cash consideration of 9.4 billion Philippine pesO for the same.
"On October 30,2024, as per the terms of the aforesaid agreement remaining investment in GMCAC had also been transferred to AIC and exchangeable notes are settled as consideration for the same. Accordingly, the Group has recognised gain of Rs. 408.61 crore under exceptional item after adjusting foreign currency translation reserve for the quarter and nine-month period ended December 31, 2024," the airport operator said as part of its results.
The airport operator reported a 19.2 percent increase in its consolidated revenue from operations to Rs 2,653.2 crore as against Rs 2,226.65 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
At the operating level, EBITDA stood at Rs 1,086.7 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal over Rs 792.6 crore in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation.
The company mainly reported a net loss in Q3FY25, after removing the exceptional gain, due to a 22 percent hike in depreciation and amortization expenses to Rs 478.74 crore during the quarter and a 9 percent increase in revenue share payable to concessionaire grantors.
GMR Airports saw its finance cost fall 3.3 percent on year to Rs 829.14 crore during Q3FY25. Finance cost for GMR Airports includes costs incurred to issue bonds, debentures and loans to further expand capacity at the airport it operates and acquire new assets, thereby indicating that the company's aggressive expansion plans was leading to losses in the short term.
On the operational side, EBITDA margin rose to 41 percent in the reporting quarter as compared to 35.6 percent in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.
Delhi Airport
In Q3 of FY25, the Delhi airport saw an increase in passenger traffic, reaching nearly 20.3 million passengers, a 8.1 percent rise compared to 18.8 million in Q3 of FY24. The rise in domestic traffic seen in the October-December quarter was mainly due a 8.2 percent rise in domestic air passenger traffic seen in the quarter and a 7.8 percent rise in international air passenger traffic during the festival season.
Operations at Delhi Airport’s Terminal were impacted after a roof collapse by heavy rainfall, on June 28, which caused the death of one person and injuries to six other individuals. Delhi Airport’s Terminal 1 has been shut after the roof collapse incident. The accident prompted a comprehensive technical assessment before operations could resume.
Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the operator of India's largest airport, is also looking at increasing its international passenger traffic handling capacity by 40-50 percent in next 6-12 months.
On August 17, GMR Airports opened the new Terminal 1 at Delhi Airport, giving a significant boost to DIAL capacity, easing pressure on Terminals 2 and 3. Total capacity at DIAL now at 100 million passengers, the airport operator said in a statement.
"Currently, nearly 20% of overseas traffic at our airport is the transit traffic of passengers going from one international destination to another via Delhi, and this is growing. We are looking at various ways to increase our international capacity by 40-50 percent in a period of 6-12 months," Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, chief executive officer, Delhi International Airport Ltd, had said at the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2024 on June 7.
Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport has a maximum traffic handling capacity of around 104 million passengers per annum, including nearly 22 million international passengers and 82-83 million domestic.
The airport handled 19.5 million international passengers and 54.2 million domestic passengers in 2023-24, data from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) showed.
Hyderabad Airport
For Q3 of FY25, the Hyderabad airport experienced a 22 percent rise in passenger traffic, totaling 7.7 million passengers, from 6.3 million in Q3FY24.
Manohar International Airport - Goa Airport
For Q3 of FY25, the new Goa airport experienced a rise in passenger traffic, totaling 1.2 million passengers, a 1.6 percent increase from 1.19 million passengers in Q3FY24.
The results came after the close of the market hours. Shares of GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd ended at Rs 71.12, up by 0.85 percent on the BSE.
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