Emirates Group posts record half-year profit of $2.7b

Emirates Group posted its highest-ever fiscal half-year earnings, reporting net profit of 10.1b dirhams ($2.75b) for 2023-24 on rebounding demand. The figure eclipsed its half-year profit of the previous year — 4.2b dirhams — by 138%. The earnings beat was driven by strong demand for international travel, as the industry continues its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Group revenue was 67.3b dirhams, up 20% from the previous year’s six-month revenue figure. Emirates Group, the state-owned Dubai-based holding company of which Emirates Airline is a subsidiary, also reported a figure for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 20.6b dirhams, up from 15.3b dirhams in the same period last year. It reported its cash position at 42.7b dirhams. “The Group has been able to tap on its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including debt payments,” the company’s earnings statement said, adding that Emirates has reimbursed 9.2b dirhams of its Covid-19 related loans and the group has paid 4.5b dirhams in dividend to its owner, which was declared at the end of the 2022-23 financial year. Emirates Airline and Group Chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum said in an accompanying statement: “We are seeing the fruition of our plans to return stronger and better from the dark days of the pandemic. The Group has surpassed previous records to report our best-ever half-year performance.” He added that the group’s profit for the first six months of the 2023-2024 financial year has “nearly matched our record full year profit in 2022-23.”<br/>