A company which owns or operates seven major regional airports, and also has technology, hotel and finance divisions, has seen profits hit a record £65.4million as it continues to invest in air travel.
The Rigby Group, which operates across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. is delighted with a profit jump of 11.4% on revenues which soared by £398.3million to £2.7billion.
The company’s Regional & City Airports (RCA) owns airports in Exeter, Bournemouth, Coventry and Norwich, and operates Blackpool Airport, City of Derry Airport and Solent Airport Daedalus.
The division delivered “solid growth in both passengers and profitability” with revenues reaching £58.1million, an increase of 28.5% with profit growth of £9.8million to £17.3million.
During the 2018/19 financial year it acquired 200,000sq ft of new hangar space for clients in Exeter and Bournemouth and delivered a new terminal expansion at Exeter.
A major new hangar development in Norwich was also secured, and new carriers were secured for all airports.
The company also owns XLR Executive Jet Centre and Capital Air Ambulance, both based at Exeter Airport, and British International Helicopters Services, which flies from Cornwall Airport Newquay and provides Flag Officer Sea Training support to the UK and NATO navies off Plymouth.
The aviation division, which operates a fleet of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and operates M0D missions in the UK and the Falklands, saw revenues hit £20.5million - but made a £800,000 loss.
The company also owns Bovey Castle Hotel on Dartmoor, flagship in The Eden Hotel Collection (EHC), an award-winning brand which owns or operates eight luxury hotels in the Midlands, the Cotswolds and South West. But there was also a loss at the hotels division, of £100,000, on sales of £19.6million.
However, technology division SCC EMEA Group - with more than 2,500 customers in more than 50 countries, supporting five million users from 75 locations in the UK, France, Romania and Spain - delivered a solid financial performance with revenue growth of £322milion to £2.15billion and profit of £46.6million, up 4%).
Rigby Real Estate owns freehold properties, large scale commercial projects and bespoke residential developments and has an active acquisition programme in place securing outline consent for a 3.7million sq ft scheme in Coventry, while looking to build 1million ss ft of new facilities in Bournemouth and also in Norwich.
The residential and yacht interior design part of the business was consolidated into Allect, with a healthy order book of £50million across 50 worldwide projects.
Rigby Group’s financial division comprises Rigby Private Equity and technology finance leasing business Rigby Capital with consolidated revenues of £508million and a £7.1million profit.
Sir Peter Rigby, chairman and chief executive, said: “This is another strong set of financial results for the group, which underlines our growth strategy.
“Increases in revenue and profitability have been achieved at a time when we have also continued to invest in our services, infrastructure, and most crucial of all, our people ensuring we are in a position to meet our future group objectives.”
Steven Rigby, group chief operating officer, said: “The past 12 months have been yet another period of successful growth and strategic achievement for the Rigby Group.
“Across our operations, we have witnessed key milestones which collectively have fed into yet another record set of financial metrics.
“We have made key acquisitions, as well as successful strategic divestments during the period. We will continue to look at further acquisitions if they add value to the group.
“As we look to our current fiscal year, we have much to be optimistic about with ambitious plans across our six divisions and expect to maintain our strong growth trajectory.”
