News

INBrief: AOT profit off 33%

AVIATION: Airports of Thailand (AOT), the country's main airport operator, said yesterday that its quarterly net profit fell 33% due mainly to higher costs and sharply lower foreign-exchange gains.

AOT, which run six airports including Suvarnabhumi, said it made a net profit of 341 million baht, or 0.24 baht per share, in its fiscal first quarter to Dec31, down from 505 million in the same period a year earlier.

The figure was well below the 785 million baht forecast by SCB Securities, which had expected AOT's operating costs to drop in the quarter.

The first quarter included a sharp drop in forex gain to 47.3 million baht from 1.05 billion in the same period a year earlier, AOT said.

Revenues rose 32.8% to 5.4 billion baht due to increased traffic, mostly from low-cost airlines, and higher airport and landing fees.

Majority state-owned AOT booked 1.9 billion baht in depreciation and amortisation cost related to Suvarnabhumi, up 12% from a year earlier.

AOT shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 55 baht, down 50 satang, in trade worth 103.44 million baht.

Source: Bangkok Post
Friday February 15, 2008