Emirates, the world's biggest long-haul airline, posted a first-half profit after tax of Dh8.7 billion ($2.4 billion) in the first financial year that the UAE corporate income tax is applied to the company.
This is 7 per cent below the Dh9.4 billion post-tax profit the airline recorded during the first six months of its financial year from April to September. The figures for September 2024 and September 2023 are not directly comparable, given that it's the first fiscal year that the UAE corporate income tax of 9 per cent applies to Emirates' financial reporting, it said on Thursday.
The Dubai-based airline's profit before tax reached a record of Dh9.7 billion in the April to September period, compared to Dh9.5 billion for the same time a year ago, reflecting strong travel and air cargo demand across its markets, Emirates said.
The airline's revenue rose five per cent year-on-year to a record Dh62.2 billion.
“We expect customer demand to remain strong for the rest of 2024-25, and we look forward to increasing our capacity to grow revenues as new aircraft join the Emirates fleet and new facilities come online at dnata,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline and group, said.
“The outlook is positive, but we don’t intend to rest on our laurels. We will stay agile in deploying our capacity and resources in a dynamic marketplace.”
Emirates recorded strong travel demand in the first six months of its fiscal year, despite the Israel-Gaza war.
Like many other airlines, Emirates flights to Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Iran have been impacted by the Gaza war and Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
However, in the first half of the year, Emirates increased flights to eight cities: Amsterdam, Cebu, Clark, Luanda, Lyon, Madrid, Manila and Singapore. It also opened new routes to Bogota through Miami in June and Madagascar through Seychelles in September.
Dubai International Airport, Emirates' home base, in the first six months of this year handled a record 44.9 million people, up 8 per cent on the same period of 2023.
Emirates carried 26.9 million passengers between April and September, up 3 per cent from the same period last year. Capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKM), increased by 4 per cent.
Load factor, a measure of how well an airline fills available seats with paying passengers, dipped to 80 per cent in the first half of the financial year from 81.5 per cent the previous year.
The airline's direct operating costs, including fuel, rose by 6 per cent in line with increased operations, it said.
Fuel remains the largest component of the operating cost, at 32 per cent, compared to 34 per cent in the same period last year, it said.
Emirates' freight arm, SkyCargo, carried nearly 1.2 million tonnes in the first six months, up 16 per cent compared on the same period last year, with “notable volume contributions from strong Chinese e-commerce traffic, and a rise in shipments bound for Dubai”, it said.
Emirates group, which includes global airport services company Dnata, recorded post-tax profit of Dh 9.3 billion, after accounting for the 9 per cent tax charge, it said.
The group's pre-tax profit rose one per cent year-on-year to a record Dh10.4 billion in the April to September period.
Group revenue rose five per cent to a record Dh70.8 billion, reflecting “consistently strong” customer demand across business divisions and across regions it operates it, Emirates said.
“This again illustrates the power of our proven business model working in combination with Dubai's growth trajectory as a city of choice to live, work, visit, connect through and do business in,” Sheikh Ahmed said.
The group closed the six months with a cash position of Dh43.7 billion on September 30, down from Dh47.1 billion in March.
“The group has been able to tap on its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including payments for new freighter aircraft orders and other debt payments,” it said.
The group also paid Dh2 billion in dividends to its Dubai government owner, as previously disclosed at the end of its 2023-2024 financial year.
The group’s workforce grew 3 per cent year-on-year to 114,610 as of September 30.
Dnata, the group's global airport services unit, recorded a 19 per cent drop in profit after tax of Dh571 million. Pre-tax profit declined 5 per cent to Dh720 million, mainly due to a one-off impairment charge of Dh152 million, the airline said.
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sav%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Purvi%20Munot%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24750%2C000%20as%20of%20March%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
MOTHER%20OF%20STRANGERS
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Suad%20Amiry%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Pantheon%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20304%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Getting%20there
%3Cp%3EGiven%20its%20remote%20location%2C%20getting%20to%20Borneo%20can%20feel%20daunting%20even%20for%20the%20most%20seasoned%20traveller.%20But%20you%20can%20fly%20directly%20from%20Kuala%20Lumpur%20to%20Sandakan%20and%20Sepilok%20is%20only%20half%20an%20hour%20away%20by%20taxi.%20Sandakan%20has%20plenty%20of%20accommodation%20options%2C%20while%20Sepilok%20has%20a%20few%20nature%20lodges%20close%20to%20the%20main%20attractions.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATHC INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
The Specs:
The Specs:
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 444bhp
Torque: 600Nm
Price: AED 356,580 incl VAT
On sale: now.
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
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9.30pm: Forever Young
