Auckland Airport posts 80 per cent fall in profit, doesn't expect a trans-Tasman bubble by June 30

Auckland International Airport has posted an after tax profit of $28m for the six months to December, and is forecasting a full year loss of up to $55m as hopes of a Tasman bubble before July fade. The interim profit is an 80% reduction on the previous year. When allowing for adjustments, including removing property value increases due to annual volatility, the company made a net underlying loss after tax of $10.5m. Auckland Airport CE Adrian Littlewood said it was not expecting a trans-Tasman bubble to get off the ground before June 30 and the company was predicting to post an after tax loss of between $35m and $55m for the 2021 financial year. “Although the Government remains committed to restarting two-way trans-Tasman travel, and we support this, for the purposes of this underlying earnings guidance we have assumed there will be no material quarantine-free, two-way Tasman travel during the remainder of the 2021 financial year.” The national gateway has been deeply affected by Covid-19 border restrictions with international passengers down 97% and domestic passengers down 45 per cent resulting on total passenger numbers falling 73% to 2.8m, compared to the six months to December 31, 2019.<br/>