Pier write-off costs Aer Rianta €7m

AER RIANTA will take a €7 million hit on the write-off of the aborted new passenger pier at Dublin Airport.

The airports' operator was told by the Transport Minister to put plans to build a new pier on hold more than a year ago because of the break-up of the company and construction of an independently-owned terminal was on the agenda. As a result, the write-off on the investment will cost Aer Rianta about €7m as the plan was scrapped.

The write-off comes as group profits fell by 44% last year due to lower earnings from Aer Rianta International, which owns and runs a number of airports and duty-free shops overseas.

The company's annual report for 2003 shows net profits dropped from €36.2m to €20.2m. The company said this was mainly because it booked a €7.45m loss from its investment in Dusseldorf International Airport. This reduced profits at Aer Rianta International to €5.1m from €13.2m in 2002.

The result were also affected by poor trading from the Great Southern Hotel chain and flat profits at Dublin Airport.

Turnover for the year was ahead by 3.8% at €437m, with the bulk of this increase coming from its commercial and retail activities. Revenue from the aeronautical business was ahead by just €1.7m to €108.8m.

Aer Rianta chief executive Margaret Sweeney said the company was prevented from increasing its airport landing charges by the aviation regulator and this was damaging the group as it could not invest in its facilities.

She said Dublin Airport, which saw a 5.8% rise in passengers passing through its doors, recorded no real growth in profits and this was unacceptable. Overall, the group recorded a 5.8% rise in passenger figures to 20.5m, its highest ever, though traffic at Shannon airport was up by just 2% to 2.4m. At Cork Airport, where a €150m terminal is under construction, passenger traffic to Britain and Europe was up 16% to 2.2m.

Mr Sweeney said the outlook for this year was broadly positive with a 10% rise in passenger numbers forecast. Even though there was a sharp decline in profits, Aer Rianta will pay out a €6 million dividend to the Exchequer.

Even with extra passengers this year, there were still issues to deal with for the company, said Ms Sweeney. The cap on landing charges set by the aviation regulator was too low and leading to congestion and safety issues at Dublin and it was also looking to submit planning permission for a second runway to service the extra capacity.