Emirates Group’s loss reduced to US$ 1 billion in 2020-21 FY
Dubai: The Emirates Group-- comprising Emirates airline, dnata and other subsidiaries-- yesterday ( May 13) released its 2021-22 Annual Report (www.theemiratesgroup.com/annualreport) which shows strong recovery across its businesses. dnata returns to profitability, and significant revenue improvements were reported across both Emirates and dnata as the Group rebuilt its air transport and travel-related operations which were previously cut-back or curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the financial year ended 31 March 2022, the Emirates Group posted a loss of US$ 1.0 billion compared with an US$ 6.0 billion loss for last year. The Group’s revenue was US$ 18.1 billion, an increase of 86% over last year’s results. The Group’s cash balance was US$ 7.0 billion, up 30% from last year mainly due to strong demand across its core business divisions and markets, triggered by the easing of pandemic-related restrictions.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, said: “This year, we focused on restoring our operations quickly and safely wherever pandemic-related restrictions eased across our markets. Business recovery picked up pace particularly in the second half of the year. Robust customer demand drove a huge improvement in our financial performance compared to our unprecedented losses of last year and we built up our strong cash balance.
“We expect the Group to return to profitability in 2022-23, and are working hard to hit our targets, while keeping a close watch on headwinds such as high fuel prices, inflation, new COVID-19 variants, and political and economic uncertainty.”
In 2021-22, Emirates airlines’ total passenger and cargo capacity increased by 47% as the airline continued to reinstate passenger services across its network in line with the lifting of pandemic-related flight and travel restrictions. With significantly enhanced capacity deployment across most markets, Emirates’ total revenue for the financial year increased 91% to US$ 16.1 billion.
With the removal of pandemic-related flight and travel restrictions globally, the airline managed to substantially improve its financial results and reported a loss of US$ 1.1 billion after last year’s AED US$ 5.5 billion loss.
In this 2nd pandemic year, Emirates SkyCargo, cargo division of Emirates airline once again put in a stellar performance and contributed to 40% of the airline’s total transport revenue.By 30 June 2021, it had restored services to over 90% of its pre-pandemic network.With steady and strong air freight demand throughout the year, Emirates’ cargo division reported a new record revenue of US$ 5.9 billion, an increase of 27% over last year.
Emirates closed the financial year with solid cash assets of US$ 5.7 billion, 38% higher compared to 31 March 2021.
Recovery from the pandemic was felt across all dnata businesses, and in 2021-22 dnata returned to profitability with a profit of US$ 30 million. dnata's total revenue increased by 54% to US$ 2.3 billion. Its cash balance improved to US$ 1.3 billion.
