Auckland International Airport Limited

For FY26, revenue was $1,036 million, up 3% year-on-year; EBITDAFI was $724 million, up 3%; normalized EBITDAFI was up 6%; reported profit after tax was $335 million, down 20%; and underlying profit was $309 million, essentially flat year-on-year. Total passenger movements were up almost 2% to just over 19 million, cargo movements were up 3%, and commercial income rose 2% to $442 million. Operating expenses grew just over 3% to $311.4 million, EBITDAFI margin was just under 70%, depreciation rose 20% to just over $241 million, and interest expense was broadly flat at $72.6 million. Capital expenditure was $1,068 million, with just over $1 billion of assets commissioned, total debt was $2.769 billion, FFO to net debt was 16.9%, gearing was 19.7%, interest coverage was 10.12x, and the weighted average interest cost was 5.15%. The board declared a final dividend of $0.0675 per share, taking the full-year distribution to $0.1325, consistent with the prior year. For FY27, Auckland Airport guided to underlying earnings of $290 million to $330 million and capital expenditure of $1 billion to $1.3 billion; the passenger assumptions were about 8.3 million domestic and about 10.8 million international.

Carrie Hurihanganui said the year showed steady performance amid global headwinds, with resilience in travel demand, improving processing times, and continued progress on sustainability and infrastructure. She emphasized that the airport is focused on delivering the “fit-for-purpose gateway” New Zealand needs, while managing a live construction environment and keeping the customer experience moving in the right direction. Her tone was cautious but constructive: she acknowledged second-half disruption from Middle East conflict and fuel volatility, but pointed to returning airline capacity and a more positive summer outlook.

Stewart Reynolds highlighted the hard numbers: revenue of $1,036 million, EBITDAFI of $724 million, normalized EBITDAFI up 6%, underlying profit of $309 million, capex of $1,068 million, and total debt of $2.769 billion. He said operating costs were controlled at just over 3% growth to $311.4 million despite 11% higher headcount, and noted depreciation rose to just over $241 million because of commissioning and some accelerated depreciation on airfield assets. On balance sheet and funding, he pointed to 16.9% FFO/net debt, 19.7% gearing, 10.12x interest coverage, $1.5 billion of committed undrawn bank facilities, and a 5.15% weighted average interest cost. He also said FY27 depreciation should be only flat to a very modest increase and that the dividend payout remained around the bottom of the policy range, with the DRP discount reduced to 2%.

Analysts focused on FY27 passenger growth, retail disruption, regulatory risk, the RAB/capex gap, and the outlook for depreciation and earnings below the line. Management said the weak point is near-term domestic and regional capacity, which they expect to lag international recovery, while international capacity is looking stronger into the Northern Winter peak. On retail, they said duty-free and dining refurbishment will continue into the first half of FY27, with more normalized trading expected in the second half; on regulation, they reiterated concerns about the Commerce Commission’s draft IM decision and stressed the need for returns that reflect airport risk. They also said the FY27 capex-to-RAB gap will likely persist into PSE5 because some assets will be commissioned after the current pricing period and that the exact pricing path is still being worked through with airlines.