Dubai’s Emirates Group, which includes the Middle East’s biggest airline, announced on Thursday gross annual profit of $6.2 billion, its third record in three years.
The 18% increase in profit, driven by strong customer demand, dropped to $5.6 billion after the UAE’s newly introduced corporate tax, which was applied for the first time over a full financial year.
“The Emirates Group has set new records for profit, revenue, and cash assets,” said Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum in a statement.
The group invested $3.8 billion in new aircraft, infrastructure, and technology to support its growth plans.
Its workforce grew by 9%, reaching a record 121,223 employees.
A dividend of $1.6 billion was declared to its owner, the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD).
Excluding the group’s other businesses, Emirates airline posted a record pre-tax profit of $5.8 billion, up 20% from the previous year. Revenue rose by 6%, reaching $34.9 billion.
Emirates’ ground services division, Dnata, also achieved a record pre-tax profit of $430 million, up 2% from last year.
The state-owned Emirates Group operates the world’s largest long-haul airline. By March, it had 314 aircraft awaiting delivery, including 61 A350s and 205 Boeing 777X models.
The statement also noted that the group is retrofitting 219 aircraft at a cost of $5 billion to compensate for delayed deliveries.
Sheikh Ahmed had previously mentioned that the group was retrofitting 90% of its fleet to make up for the delays.
