SWISSPORT (T) PROFITS SHRINK BY 5 PERCENT AS COMPANY STRUGGLES WITH COST
Information was received from an aviation source in Dar es Salaam that Swissport, Tanzania’s leading ground handling agency at the main airports of the country, has seen a profit reduction of some 5 percent at the end of their last financial year. The company reportedly attributed the reduction to increased cost of operations, including staff expenses. While revenues for the financial year 2012 apparently grew by more than 8 percent to over 30 billion Tanzania Shillings for the first time ever, expenses increase above that margin by 14 percent, leading to the profit reduction. At the same time however did the company manage to grow the asset base by 14 percent too with the introduction of state of the art equipment and facilities.
The company expressed confidence that 2013 will see further revenue growth and a recovery of profits after declaring a final dividend for the past financial year, combining to nearly 150 Tanzania Shillings paid per share. Swissport Chairman Juan Alves released a media statement yesterday in which he said: ‘We remain committed to ensuring a continued growth of our company. We foresee slight increase in number of frequencies and volume of cargo in 2013’.
