MACL reports loss of over MVR 100 million in second quarter

Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) on Wednesday, recorded a loss of MVR 166 million across the second quarter of this year.

According to the quarterly report published by the Finance Ministry’s Privatisation and Corporatization Board, MACL reaped revenue of MVR 1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020 and MVR 1.2 billion in the second quarter of 2019.

Comparatively, in the second quarter of 2020, the company recorded MVR 111 million - 90 percent lower than the same period last year and 92 percent lower than the first half of 2019.

The quarterly report indicates that while MACL made a profit of MVR 346 million during the second quarter of 2019, the company also collected profits of MVR 423 million during its first quarter.

The difference is attributed to the flight cancellations, border closures and travel restrictions put in place to curb the spread of COVID19, when the ongoing global pandemic first emerged in the country.

Hence, the fuel profits have dropped by a staggering 94 percent, and similar declining trends were observed across the duty free retail sector as well.

Akin to most countries around the globe, the travel industry grinding to an abrupt halt, has had serious consequences on this small island nation.

Mid-April, World Bank projected that the highly-tourism dependant Maldives may be the worst-hit economy, with regards to the pandemic, in the South Asian region.

Heavily reliant on tourism for revenue, with the industry momentarily ground to a halt, Maldives has estimated a shortfall of approximately USD 450 million (MVR 6.9 billion) in foreign currency, while projected state deficits are said to reach MVR 13 billion this year.

On Tuesday, local news outlet Mihaaru reported that the number of foreign nationals arriving at Velana International Airport within a period of 24 hours, had begun averaging 4000 tourists per day.

It was suggested that a 15 percent increase in flights headed for Maldives led to a rise of 32 percent in tourist arrivals, with unnamed sources within the industry quoted saying that, per their estimates, current figures indicate a recovery curve close to pre-COVID19 arrival rates.