Profits increase 7.2% at Swissport despite cargo volumes falling as global demand slowed and the French cargo handling business was sold.

First half profits measured in operating EBITDA increased 7.2% to €121.9 million and revenue was up 6.1% to €1.4 billion.

Swissport handled 2.23 million tonnes of airfreight in the first half of 2019 compared to 2.35 million last year.

The sale of the cargo handling business in France accounted for 2.1% of the 5.4% fall, and the other 3.3% was in line with the 3.6% contraction in the global air cargo market.

Eric Born, president and CEO of Swissport International says: “Our solid half-year results were driven by profitable revenue growth and our continued efforts to further improve our cost efficiency. As the global aviation market now shows visible signs of a slowdown, we are implementing additional measures to safeguard earnings and to improve the Group’s profitability in the medium term.”

In August, Swissport refinanced existing corporate debt ahead of the 2021/2022 maturities with the €1.5 billion net proceeds being used to repay its outstanding borrowings.