Traffic and revenues on the rise, net profit stable close to 100 million, guidance for 2019 confirmed as well as the 100 hires promised in the coming months. These are the main results of the accounts for the first nine months of the year of ENAV, the company that manages civil air traffic in Italy. Total consolidated revenues as at 30 September 2019 therefore amount to €691,3 million, up 2,3% compared to the first nine months of 2018, with strong growth in revenues from operating activities, partly offset by the negative effect of the balance. Revenues from operating activities instead reached a total of 737,8 million euros, with an increase of 3,2% compared to the same period of 2018. This result is linked to the good performance of both en-route revenues (+3,1% ), equal to 541,1 million euros, and to terminal revenues (+4,8%), equal to 178,6 million euros.
Enav then recorded a 0,8% increase in Gross Operating Margin (EBITDA), compared to 30 September 2018, which reaches 236,9 million euros, with an EBITDA margin of 34,3%. The consolidated Operating Result (EBIT) in the first nine months of 2019 reached 142,5 million euros, up by 1,1% compared to the same period of 2018, with an EBIT margin of 20,6%. Consolidated net income for the first nine months of 2019 amounted to €98,8 million, stable compared to the same period of 2018. The net financial position was positive by €54,6 million, an improvement of 56,6 million euro compared to the figure recorded as at 31 December 2018. For the 2019 financial year, Enav confirms the guidance provided in March 2019 on stable net revenues or low single-digit growth. Investments in 2019 will be in the order of 115-120 million euros.
Operating costs amounted to 454,5 million euro, an increase of 3,1% compared to the first nine months of 2018. The ENAV Group declares that it has continued in its process of making external costs more efficient, thanks to interventions on specific expenditure components and the optimization of processes between group companies. In fact, external operating costs show a reduction of 4% compared to 30 September 2018, settling at 100,5 million euros due to the reduction in telecommunications expenses, due to the use of the E-NET network, and expenses support for some orders subject to rescheduling in the last quarter of the year. The reduction is partly due to the effects deriving from the application of IFRS 16 on lease and rental costs. Personnel costs amounted to 374,8 million euro, an increase of 4,4% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
“In Italy – he commented the Chief Executive Officer Roberta Neri – the growth trend of air traffic is confirmed with rates higher than the other main European countries. ENAV has invested significant resources to guarantee an excellent quality of service with punctuality at the top in the international arena. The long-term sustainability of our business also depends on innovation and to this end we have already planned to hire around 100 young graduates and high school graduates in the coming months, both in air traffic management to maintain the focus on service excellence towards airlines, and in our business activities. As regards the unregulated market, I am particularly proud of the acquisition of IDS AirNav, thanks to which, in a very short time, we have managed to enter new markets such as South America and sub-Saharan Africa”.
Meanwhile, Enav received from the Department of Economics and Business Sciences of the University of Pavia, together with the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development, the Italian Association of Auditors, the Italian Association for Personnel Management and Refinitiv Italia, the Sustainability Report Award for the category "medium-large companies".
