5th Aug 2015 06:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - BBA Aviation PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit fell in the first half due to weakness in the European business and general aviation and commercial aircraft markets, which also caused revenue to fall, though it still raised its dividend slightly.
The FTSE 250-listed aviation services company said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was USD61.7 million, down from USD92.0 million a year before, as revenue fell to USD1.10 billion from USD1.15 billion due to lower fuel prices and the effect of the stronger dollar. Profit was pulled lower by a weak performance in its aftermarket services unit, which offset progress made in its Flight Support business.
Revenue for the group was hurt by fewer aviation movements in the European business and general planes sector and also by fewer commercial aircraft movements in North America. Commercial aircraft movements rose in Europe in the period, while US business and general aviation movements also increased, though not by enough to offset the declines.
BBA said it will pay a 4.85 cents dividend for the half, down from 4.62 cents a year earlier.
"We remain confident in the full-year outlook. We have strong momentum in Flight Support, with Signature's continued outperformance and reduced start-up costs in ASIG. In Aftermarket Services, we anticipate a more positive second half performance as the efficiency improvements in ERO feed through, underpinned by the completion of new licence adoptions and a strong order book in Legacy," said BBA Chief Executive Simon Pryce.
"This coupled with a continued, albeit slow, recovery in our major markets gives us confidence that 2015 will be a year of good growth with strong momentum into 2016," Pryce added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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