John Menzies has reported a £22m profit, following a £70.2m organisational restructure.
The Edinburgh-headquartered aviation logistics company made the one-off investment following decreased flight activity caused by the pandemic, which led to a 37% reduction in revenue last year.
Menzies decided it would focus more on its more “resilient” cargo side of the business, which helped counteract some of the losses from lack of passenger flights.
As a result, the company recorded an operating profit of £15.4m for the six months to 30 June 2021, compared with an operating loss of £70.3m in the first half of 2020.
Excluding exceptional items, the underlying operating profit for the period was £21.6m, compared with a loss of £39m during the same period last year.
Revenue for the first half year of 2021 was £415.8m, up from £431.5m year-on-year.
“We have credited against costs incurred, £64.7m of governmental support in the half year, most significantly against labour and costs incurred in the UK, the USA, Australia and Canada,” read the interim results.
Profit before tax was £4.7m, against a loss of £80m for the same period last year.
Its air cargo service tonnage was up 38% on the same period in 2020, boosted by several new contract wins.
Compared with 2019, ground services and fuelling volumes remain subdued however, and are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels before 2023.
Ground services volumes in the first half of 2021 are 62% lower than in 2019, with fuelling services also impacted, to a slightly lesser extent, at 45% lower.
However, air cargo services have been more resilient, with volumes handled 9% above 2019 levels.
Philipp Joeinig, chairman and chief executive at John Menzies, said: “I am pleased that we have delivered a strong first half despite the continuing impact of Covid-19 on travel.
“We are committed to delivering against our strategic priorities and are making good progress.
“We continue to win contracts, enter new markets and optimise the mix of our business portfolio - furthermore, we are confident that our resilient business model leaves us well placed to prosper as flight volumes continue to recover.”
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