SAHCO records N8.7bn revenue in 2021, invests N2bn in equipment

The revenue of Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc rose by 24.72 per cent to N8.7 billion in the year ended December 31, 2021, according to BusinessDay’s findings.

This is also as the company disclosed that it has invested a sum of N2 billion in equipment in a bid to boost turnover and attract clientele.

The ground handling company also approved a dividend of 16.5k per ordinary share of 50k to its shareholders.

These were contained in the Annual Report and Accounts 2021 presented to shareholders at its 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM), held physically and virtually in Lagos on Wednesday.

According to the report, the 24.72 rise was an increase of N6.98 billion in 20120, while its Gross Profit also increased by 27.34 percent to N3,856,770 from N3,028,693 when compared to the previous year.

Besides, the ground handling company grew its Profit Before Income Tax to N565,148 from N56,665 in 2020.

Within the same period, the leading ground handling total assets rose to 24,607,589 from N23,626,187, indicating 4.15 percent rise when compared to 2020, while its total liabilities in the year under review also increased to N5,266,298 from N4,426,950, representing 18.96 percent increase within in the year ended December 31, 2021.

However, despite the rise in its revenue, SAHCO said its performance was still slowed down by the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, which crippled the global economies in 2020 and part of 2021.

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Taiwo Afolabi, the Chairman, Sifax SAHCO Group, expressed delight at the performance of the ground handling company in the past year, saying that the company performed extremely well despite the myriad of challenges affecting the sub-sector.

Afolabi regretted that the aviation sector was one of the most negatively impacted in the past year and lauded the Board of Directors and the management of SAHCO for their loyalty in the past year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic affected. The restriction on international travel affected us. We are trying to see how we can surpass last year’s profit in terms of profitability. What we focus on is how to develop human capital to meet up the standard. We are doing our best to boost our infrastructures to attract more clientele. The market is so saturated but by next year, we will be doing more.

“The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded at 3.40 per cent in 2021, the most since 2014, according to the National Bureau of Statistics 2021 report. The consequence of the pandemic in 2019 made the country to seek for answers in the non-oil sector and from what the numbers said, it got it,” he explained.

Afolabi however called on the Federal Government to continue to assist the organisations in the sector to grow

Also speaking at the event, Basil Agboarumi, the managing director of SAHCO, said that the management was prepared to increase its revenue in the coming year.

According to Agboarumi, the management had put in place machinery to ensure the growth of the company, assuring that it would continue to provide the best services to its clients.

“As I talk to you now, we have equipment that we have not deployed for use yet. We have some on the sea coming. There are some that have been moved and some are just concluding manufacturing. We are working with the airlines. We understand that new airlines are coming up. For us as a ground handling company, I know we need to be prepared,” Agboarumi explained.