The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) has posted significant financial growth in the 10 years of its operations, with its revenue growing from GHC21 million in 2007 to GHC363 million in 2016.

The Company’s total capitalization, has also surged over 44 times the initial GHC130 million to GHC5.8 billion, according to Mr John Dekyem Attafuah, Managing Director of the GACL, which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year.

Speaking at the GACL’s fifth Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra on Thursday, Mr Attafuah said the Company had over the years succeeded in capacity and infrastructure and human capital and will strive to sustain its performance from previous years.

“…we will develop appropriate operational and financial strategies that will transform and prepare us for the opportunities and challenges ahead,” he stated, and went on to present highlights of Company’s performance in the 2016 financial year under review.

On Air Traffic performance, the GACL showed a 3.3 percent decline in aircraft movements in 2016, recording 36,354 movements, compared to 37, 611 in the 2015 financial year.

The fall, he noted, was due mainly to a drop in domestic movements as a result of Antrak Air and Starbow suspending flight operations during the year for technical reasons.

This put a damper on total passenger throughput for the year under review, which only increased marginally by 1.4 percent to 2, 381,917 from 2,350,118 in 2015.

The slight increase was attributable to international passengers, as the Value Added Tax imposed on domestic air travel also suppressed its expected growth.

Freight experience also experienced a decline over previous years by 7.1 percent from 51,325 tonnes in 2015 to 47,677 tonnes in 2016.

This was due to the general slowdown in world trade, falling commodity prices and the ban on some perishable exports from Ghana to the EU market.

While the GACL’s financial results remained strong, performance in the year under review, the GHC153 million profit before tax was 13 percent lower than the 2015 results, due mainly to increased operational costs.

Total revenue for 2016 increased slightly to GHC363,279 from GHC 323,298 in 2015.

Aeronautical revenue contributed GHC316,737 while non-aeronautical revenue was GHC46,543.

Mr Attafuah said the Company will focus more in the future on growing its non-aeronautical revenue with projects such as the airport city development project.

The group’s 2016 figures also recorded a dip in profit from GH£177.2 million in 2015 to GHC154.0 million, a dip of 13.1 percent.

He noted that in spite of the lower profit, the Company’s liquidity ratio of 6.9 in 2016, from 5.7 in 2015 was sufficient to cover its current contractual agreements.

“Total capitalisation of GACL has also improved considerably to GHC5.8 billion in 2016 compared to GHC2.2 billion in 2015, as a result of revaluation of company assets,” he stated.

An agenda of the AGM to authorise an increase in the stated capital of the Company was deferred to allow for further deliberations by the Board on the matter.

Mrs Oboshie Sai Cofie, Chairperson of the board of Directors of the GACL, said the celebration of the Company’s 10th anniversary this year, under the theme: “Successful Airports; A tool for National Development”, was an opportunity for it to take stock of its efforts, successes and challenges and to position the Company strategically for the future.

Activities planned as part of the celebration include a Safety and Customer service week, an air expo exhibition, stakeholder recognition ceremony and a thanksgiving service.