Final Results - Part 1

TBI PLC 20 June 2000 PART 1 Contacts: Keith Brooks, Chief Executive Caroline Price, Group Finance Director TBI plc 020 7408 7300 David Bick Holborn Public Relations 020 7929 5599 david_bick@holbornpr.co.uk TBI plc Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 March 2000 TBI plc, the airports group, announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2000. Highlights of the Year * Year of strategic change - now exclusively an airports business * Well positioned as leading regional airports company * Underlying pre-tax profits of continuing operations up 36.7% to £15.5 m * Strong growth in established airports Commenting, Keith Brooks, Chief Executive said: 'Our strong strategic position combined with our substantial skill base provides a very encouraging backdrop for future profitable growth, both this year and beyond. We will also seek to deploy our strong balance sheet to augment our organic development with acquisitions that meet our investment criteria.' Year of Strategic Change The year ended 31 March 2000 was one of great strategic change for TBI. We exited commercial property with the sale of this business in June 1999 for £190 million and acquired Airport Group International for £86 million in September 1999, thereby making the group a focused airports company with three distinct activities - ownership, management and services. Financial Performance Earnings from group airport businesses before interest, depreciation, amortisation, tax and reorganisation costs rose 23% to £32.7 million. Profit before tax from the continuing businesses have this year increased by 36.7% to £15.5 million. Earnings per share from continuing businesses rose 29.7% to 2.36p. As we announced on 10 March, there were significant one-off costs which impacted the results, including those associated with the strategic change, resulting in a headline loss before tax of £4.5 million. A base has been established from which to achieve sustainable and consistent earnings growth in the years ahead. The group also has a strong balance sheet with considerable debt capacity to assist our growth plans. The board is recommending a final dividend of 1.4p per share, payable on 7 August 2000, making a total dividend for the year of 2.0p per share, an increase of 14%. Airport businesses EBITDA* 2000 1999 £'m £'m Belfast 17.7 16.0 Bolivia 1.6 - Cardiff 9.7 8.2 Orlando Sanford 0.9 2.4 Stockholm Skavsta (0.1) (0.1) ---- ---- Airport ownership 29.8 26.5 Airport management 1.1 - Airport services 1.8 - ---- ---- 32.7 26.5 + 23% ---- ---- * Excluding reorganisation costs of £1.5 million Our main airports at Belfast and Cardiff had a very good year. Belfast's passengers rose by 15% to over three million - a watershed number for a regional airport. Bolivia performed in line with our expectations, and there are now initial signs of a general economic upturn in the region, supported by renewed airlines interest in the country. Orlando Sanford had a tough year - but has underpinned its business by entering into long term contracts with its major customers and, as the new operator of the domestic terminal is enjoying significant passenger growth from Pan Am operations at the airport. Stockholm Skavsta too had its difficulties during the year, particularly with its cargo operations. However, the year ended on a high point as the Swedish Prime Minister identified it as the preferred solution for Stockholm's need for a second airport. Strategic Position TBI is now the largest operator of regional airports in the world with outright ownership, part ownership, management contracts and airport services contracts in 37 airports in North and South America, Europe and Australia. We have assembled a very valuable collection of assets. Some of these assets do not yet make a meaningful contribution to earnings, either because they are at an early stage of development, as at Stockholm Skavsta, or because of their capital structure. At Skavsta we now have Government commitment to expand the airport as Stockholm's second principal facility with much enhanced communications with the city centre and improved terminal capacity. In Australia we have already made a partial disposal which shows a 22% profit over the price paid by AGI. Management A new management board of six directors has been put in place. This board, which reports to the main board, is responsible for day-to-day management, including performance, tactical direction and the management of risk, including safety. In order to maximise operating efficiency, the divisions generally follow geographic lines, mindful that our strategic purpose is to grow our ownership, management and services interests. Two of the management board directors are based in the USA, reflecting our strong presence in that country. Airport Ownership Currently we have outright ownership or long term interests at Belfast International, Cardiff International, Skavsta, Orlando Sanford, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba and La Paz. Additionally, we have minority interests in Perth (16%), Northern Territories (20%), Hobart (30%) and London Luton (25%). We continually review whether to realise value or increase our interests in these airports. Our most mature airport interest, Belfast International enjoyed its fourth consecutive year of growth under our stewardship with a 15% increase in passenger numbers. Similarly, at Cardiff International passenger numbers rose by 5%. Airport Management TBI manages the whole or part of four important airports in North America. These are the 28-gate international concourse at Atlanta, Terminal 3 at Toronto and the smaller Burbank and Albany airports. We see our successful management formula at these airports and at Orlando Sanford being repeated at other airports across the USA as the privatisation process gathers pace in this market. We also have technical service agreements at all of the Australian airports and at London Luton. These agreements attract fixed fees plus additional fees related to airport performance. Airport Services The group provides a variety of services, including fuelling, cargo handling, ground handling and, passenger handling and maintenance in locations ranging from Los Angeles and San Francisco on the American West Coast to Atlanta and Charlotte in the South and Chicago and Baltimore in the North and East. We see significant growth opportunities for these activities. Prospects Our strong strategic position combined with our substantial skill base provides a very encouraging backdrop for future profitable growth, both this year and beyond. We will also seek to deploy our strong balance sheet to augment our organic development with acquisitions that meet our investment criteria. MORE TO FOLLOW
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