The Managing Director of Med-view Airline Plc, Alhaji Muneer Bankole recently told the shareholders at the annual general meeting (AGM), that the company’s growth in aviation industry had continued with accelerated efforts and has stood out significantly among her contemporaries. The Airline which reported a growth of 27 per cent in profit after tax (PAT) to N857 million for the half year ended June 30, 2017, compared with N672 million in the corresponding period of 2016.
The results of the only airline listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), indicated that gross revenue grew by 48 per cent from N8.7 billion to N13.007 billion in 2017.
Operating cost increased from N7.748 billion to N9.982 billion, this is due to rise in aviation fuel cost and cost of lease of aircraft for local operations. For instance, the airline spent N1.257 billion on the lease of aircraft in H1, compared with nothing in the corresponding period of 2016. Similarly, N4.506 billion was spent on aviation fuel, showing an increase of 60.2 per cent above the N2.811 billion recorded in 2016. The amount spent on aviation alone accounted for 45 per cent of the total operating cost in 2017, compared with 37 per cent in 2016.
Administrative expenses increased marginally from N1.914 billion to N1.978 billion, while finance cost jumped to N171 million, from N55 million in 2016. The rise stemmed from a growth in interest charges on overdraft that soared from N21.3 million in 2016 to N114.636 million in 2017. The Airline ended the H1 with a profit before tax (PBT) of N945 million, from N739 million and a PAT of N857 million as against N672 million.
The company has continued to soar higher from the maiden flight in 2007 with Hajj operation and has been able to spread to various parts of the world covering domestic, regional and international flights. Domestically, the airline has flights to Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Owerri, Yola, Maiduguri, Enugu, and Kano, while on the regional routes, it has Accra (Ghana); Freetown(Sierra Leone) and Monrovia (Liberia), which are currently operational. While international route covers Jeddah and London and planning to include Dubai, United States of America and South Africa this year.
Following the need to inject more capital, the shareholders of Medview Airline have already authorised the directors to “raise additional capital via issue of debt instruments, preference shares or ordinary or a combination of any of these options by way of private placement, rights to existing shareholders, offer for subscription or any staff share scheme.
