Dnata’s annual profit of $394 million was boosted by the sale of its 22% stake in travel management company Hogg Robinson Group as part of HRG’s acquisition by Amex Travel Business Group.
Dnata profits for the 12 months to March would have been down 15% year-on-year without the one-off contribution despite total revenue growing 10% to $3.9 billion.
Revenue from dnata’s Travel Services division rose by by 9% to hit $1 billion mark in the 2018-19 financial year.
Underlying total transaction value of travel services sold by the Emirates-owned travel organisation grew by 2% to $3.1 billion, annual results show.
Slowing demand for business and leisure travel in the UK and the UAE – its two biggest markets – was partially offset by dnata’s ability to tap into and serve “a broad and diverse array of travel segments”.
Dnata entered the German market and expanded its travel network in Europe with the acquisition of Tropo, an operator selling through online travel agents and independent travel agencies.
It also acquired a majority stake in BD4travel [Big Data for Travel], a tech company which provides artificial intelligence-driven IT solutions in the travel sector.
Dnata expanded its contact centre operations with the completion of a second facility in Clark, Philippines, and the purchase of another in Belgrade.
This took its operations to 14 locations in the UAE, Serbia, the Philippines, India and the UK.
“With added capability and capacity, dnata successfully expanded its service contracts with key customers including a new five-year agreement with Etihad Airways to run its contact centre operations globally,” the company said.
Emirates airline suffered a 69% plunge in profits to $237 million as higher oil prices and a strong US dollar impacted the financial performance.
The overall Dubai-based Emirates Group saw profits drop by 44% year-on-year to $631 million.
Chairman and chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, said: “2018-19 has been tough, and our performance was not as strong as we would have liked.
“Higher oil prices and the strengthened US dollar eroded our earnings, even as competition intensified in our key markets.
“The uptick in global airfreight demand from the previous year appears to have gone into reverse gear, and we also saw travel demand weaken, particularly in our region, impacting both dnata and Emirates.
“Every business cycle is different, and we continue to work smart and hard to tackle the challenges and take advantage of opportunities.
“Our goal has always been to build a profitable, sustainable, and responsible business based in Dubai, and these principles continue to guide our decisions and investments.
“In 2018-19, Emirates and dnata delivered our 31st consecutive year of profit, recorded growth across the business, and invested in initiatives and infrastructure that will secure our future success.”