Etihad posts 3rd straight profit year

MANILA, Philippines - Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, announced record financial results for 2013, with net profit up 48 percent to $62 million on revenues up 27 percent to $6.1 billion.

The record performance also saw earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) up 22 percent to $208 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and rentals (EBITDAR) up 30 percent to $979 million, a margin of 16 percent of total revenues.

This marked the third successive year of net profitability, in the airline’s 10th year of operation.

James Hogan, president and chief executive officer of Etihad Airways, said:

“This is another important step forward in our journey as a growing, commercially successful business.  We have hit every financial target for each of the last seven years, bringing sustainable profitability to a business which has grown from just $300 million in revenues in 2005 to more than $6 billion today.

“We have delivered that through our unique strategy, which has seen us combine industry-leading organic growth with wide-ranging partnerships and minority equity investments in strategically important carriers around the world.

“This journey has seen us evolve from a highly successful airline into a growing aviation and travel group, with the infrastructure and strategy to develop even further in our second decade.

“We are particularly pleased to deliver a return for our shareholder, while also playing a major role in the development of trade and tourism within the emirate of Abu Dhabi.”

The airline has announced nine new destinations for 2014 – the US cities of Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth, the European gateways of Rome and Zurich, Jaipur in India, Perth in Western Australia, Phuket in Thailand, Medina in Saudi Arabia and Yerevan in Armenia. 

A key driver of Etihad Airways’growth in 2013 was its partnership strategy, based on wide-ranging codeshares and its unique approach of minority equity investments in strategically important airlines. This has accelerated network growth, giving it the largest route network of any Middle Eastern carrier, reaching almost 400 destinations; boosted sales and marketing opportunities in key markets around the world; and allowed significant business synergies and cost savings.

This strategy delivered revenues of $820 million in 2013, up 30 percent and represented 21 percent of total passenger revenues for Etihad Airways.