Airline posted its first profit in 2015, but back in the red in 2016. Depending how work its long haul flights to London and Mumbai and its new Africans routes, i hope that the airline will back quickly to the profits.
RwandAir is banking on new routes and efficient use of assets to get back to profitability this year after it plunged into loss-making last year.
The Rwandan national carrier’s financial documents show that it posted a $1.01 million loss last year, from an operating profit of $2.8 million in 2015.
But the airline has in the past three years reduced its losses from $37.3 million in 2014 to $1.01 million last year. The airline’s revenue is steadily growing, recording earnings of $99.85 million last year, up from $95.2 million the previous year, and $86.8 million in 2014.
From its financial documents, the airline has seen its grant allocation from the Rwandan government reduce drastically from $56.2 million in 2015 to $53.8 million last year.
In the 2017/18 budget, Finance Minister Claver Gatete reduced this further to $47 million, but it is expected that the airline’s aircraft guarantees, which the government provided on its new aircraft and the expansion of RwandAir operations, could see a negative reflection in its 2017/18 books of account.
RwandAir has also seen its operating expenses slightly fall last year to $115.7 million, down from $116.4 million in 2015, even as its staff costs increased, possibly due to the new routes, which require more human resources. Last year, it spent $11.8 million on employee costs, up from 10.3 million the previous year.
The airline’s total liabilities have risen to $238.1 million up from $166.06 million even though its borrowing went down to $113.9 million from 131.7 million in 2015, while its finance costs rose to $15.12 million, up from $10.5 million last year. The airline has also seen its total assets increased to $238.15 million, up from $166.06 million in 2015.
The Rwandan government has in the past borrowed to finance the operations of the airline as it hopes that it will break even by the end of next year. In 2013 where Rwanda went for a 10-year Eurobond, Kigali indicated that it would use part of the $200 million to finance RwandAir, without indicating how much of the money went to the airline.
In the revised budget for 2013/2014, RwandAir allocation rose from $32.3 million to $47.9 million as more funds were committed to repay loans. In 2015, the airline received $160 million from PTA Bank to acquire the two new Airbus aircraft that it received last year.
The airline is currently servicing a loan of $60 million borrowed from the same bank in 2011 and due for maturity in 2021.
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/busines ... index.html
