The Emirates Group has released its 2018-19 Annual Report, posting a profit of $631million for the financial year ended March 31, 2019.
The report said the Emirates Group’s overall revenue for the period under review reached $29.8billion, an increase of seven per cent over the previous year’s results.
The Group’s cash balance however stood at $6.0billion, down 13 per cent from last year mainly due to large investments into the business, including significant acquisitions and payment of last year’s $545 million dividend.
In line with the overall profit, the Group declared a dividend of $136 million to the Investment Corporation of Dubai for 2018-19.
Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, said, “2018-19, has been tough, and our performance was not as strong as we would have liked. Higher oil prices and the strengthened US dollar eroded our earnings, even as competition intensified in our key markets. The uptick in global air-freight demand from the previous year appears to have gone into reverse gear, and we also saw travel demand weaken, particularly in our region, impacting Emirates.”
He said in 2018-19, the Group collectively invested AED 14.6 billion (about $3.9 billion) in new aircraft and equipment, the acquisition of modern facilities, latest technologies, and staff initiatives, a significant increase over last year’s investment spend of $2.5 billion. He also said across its more than 120 subsidiaries, the Emirates Group’s total workforce increased by two per cent to 105,286, representing over 160 different nationalities, mainly influenced by the airline’s new acquisitions and its international business expansion.
“Every business cycle is different, and we continue to work smart and hard to tackle the challenges and take advantage of opportunities. Our goal has always been to build a profitable, sustainable, and responsible business based in Dubai, and these principles continue to guide our decisions and investments,” added Al Maktoum.