Higher revenues from Hong Kong International Airport retail concessions helped deliver a solid financial performance for Airport Authority HongKong (AAHK) for its fiscal year to the end of March.

Meanwhile, the authority plans to launch an e-commerce portal, HKairport Shop, so passengers can pre-order merchandise to pick up at the airport.

AAHK reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of HK$12.831 billion (US$1.64 billion), up 4 per cent from the previous year.

However, depreciation and amortisation plus income tax surged 9.5 and 21.2 per cent respectively to $3 billion and $1.65 billion, leading to a 1 per cent drop in profit attributable to the equity shareholder of $8.2 billion.

Total revenue grew 2.4 per cent to $18.6 billion, largely because of increased passenger traffic, flight movements and cargo throughput, as well as the strong retail performance.

Retail licences and advertising revenue, representing 41.9 per cent of total revenue, rose 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion.

This increase was a result of higher revenue from improved licence terms, passenger growth and new retail outlets in the Midfield Concourse, accompanied by retail promotion campaigns throughout the year.

“We will continue to increase non-aeronautical revenues by maintaining a diversified trade, introducing new brands and retail categories,” says AAHK.

For the first time, Hong Kong International Airport exceeded the 70-million passenger mark during the year.

There were 70.5 million passengers and 410,440 flight movements, representing annual increases of 1.1 and 0.1 per cent respectively.