Airlines’ debts to SAHCO rise to N6bn as company gives N406m dividend
The total debts to the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc by airlines is about N6 billion, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, the Chairman of the organisation has said. This is as the handling company on Thursday paid a dividend of 30 kobo per share on the issued ordinary share capital of 1,363,580,000 ordinary shares, amounting to N406,074,,000 to its shareholders.
SAHCO stated these on Thursday at its 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos. Speaking on the sideline of the AGM, Afolabi lamented that the N6 billion debts of its clients – the airlines was affecting its operations. In a bid to recover the debts, Afolabi said that the handling company had set up a committee, which is liaising with its debtor clients, assuring that the company would recover the debts.
SAHCO provides passenger handling services, baggage handling services, ramp handling services, cargo handling services and warehousing for airlines. Afolabi said: “Our airlines owe us an estimated N6 billion. So, we have to set up a committee purposely for that. We know that the clients like to owe. So, what we are trying to do is not to have allowed it to affect our profitability.
“So, we had to set up a committee that is looking into that and they are doing wonderfully well; they are recovering back. We have a lady that we put in charge of that and she’s doing well. We believe in the next three to six months, we will recover all the debts fully.”
Also, SAHCO on Thursday gave a dividend of 30 kobo per ordinary shares for the 2023 financial year period to its shareholders, amounting to N406,074. The 30 kobo per ordinary shares was an improvement from the 16.5 kobo approved to shareholders in the 2022 year period.
Breakdown of the financial report of the company further showed that Profit Before Tax (PBT) of SAHCO stood at N2.68 billion, which was an increase from the 2022 period at N469 million. Also, Income Tax within the 2023 financial year period was N675 million, while I stood at N162 million.
SAHCO’s Profit After Tax (PAT) was N1.9 billion, while it earned about N309 million in the same period in the 2022 financial year period. Total other comprehensive income was N1.5 billion, while this stood at N159 million in the 2022 financial year.
Besides, Afolabi speaking on the proposed handling rates for domestic airlines, said that the ground handling companies had gone far in its discussions with the concerned authorities, including the airlines. He assured that very soon, the ground handling companies would commence the implementation of the new regime, stressing that it was inevitable at this time.
On diversification of SAHCO, Afolabi emphasised that the ground handling company had already begun the process.
He said: “We are doing that already. You will see that we have SIFAX-SAHCO Travels, which would be commissioned in the next few hours (Thursday) and we are also looking at other things that we believe will add value to the company. As I am talking to you now, we are looking at helicopter leasing to support what we are doing and to grow the profitability of the company.
“We are doing a lot of things. So, it is not something that we can get to do in a day. If you look at the parent company, we have diversified into so many sectors; aviation, maritime, financial services, oil and gas. So, we are doing a lot of things. At the same time, we have a lot to do for SAHCOL in order to increase our profitability and to sustain it. Sustainability is very key.”
