KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's (MAHB) net profit doubled to RM168.49 million or 9.28 sen per share for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (3QFY18), from RM80.93 million or 4 sen per share last year due to higher passenger growth.

Its quarterly revenue grew 1.46% to RM1.23 billion, from RM1.21 billion in 3QFY17, the airports operator said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

For 3QFY18, Malaysia operations recorded a 2% passenger growth (international: +3.1%, domestic: +0.8%) to 25 million passengers, compared with 24.5 million passengers last year, said MAHB.

Meanwhile, MAHB noted that the passenger traffic for the Turkey operations rose 7.8% (international: +6.3%, domestic +8.6%) to 9.7 million passengers, from 9 million passengers last year.

MAHB showed that its airport operations' revenue grew 1.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.16 billion, while its aeronautical segment increased 4.5% y-o-y to RM632.4 million.

Geographically, the Malaysian operations saw its profit before tax (PBT) increased 41.6% to RM189.7 million. Its Turkey operation, on the other hand, registered a loss before tax (LBT) of RM38.2 million, lower by 19.1% due to loss recorded in the previous corresponding quarter, while Qatar operations' PBT was down 41.2% to RM3.3 million.

Overall, the Malaysia operations has recorded an increase in revenue by 2.6% to RM883.5 million while Qatar operations' revenue rose 3.4% to RM36.8 million. However, Turkey operations recorded a slight decline in revenue by 2% to RM309.2 million.

For its cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, 2018, its net profit tripled to RM699.21 million or 39.55 sen per share, from RM207.47 million or 9.95 sen per share last year, while revenue was up 5.72% to RM3.6 billion against RM3.41 billion a year ago.

On prospects, MAHB's management expects the group's financial performance for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 (FY18) to be better than the previous year due to anticipation of a relatively moderate passenger traffic growth for Malaysia in 2018 and the steady growth momentum in Turkey.

Additionally, MAHB said the higher oil price fluctuation environment may have some impact in the short term but is unlikely to hamper traffic growth in the long run based on past trends.

"Nevertheless, passenger growth remains vulnerable to macroeconomic pressures due to trade restrictions between China and the US along with lower economic growth for Malaysia," MAHB added.

At the noon break today, shares of MAHB were 17 sen or 2.13% lower at RM7.81, with a market capitalisation of RM12.94 billion.