He said the loss is attributed only to the interest expenses amounting to D531.3 million out of the net loss as a result of interest expenses and similar charges.
“The exchange rate differences of the long-term development contracted by government and passed to the Civil Aviation Authority account for 82.25 percent,” he said, adding that the impact of foreign exchange and interest expenses on the foreign currency denominated borrowings, which were incurred for airport improvement, continued to adversely affect the financial performance of the Authority.
He further disclosed that the foreign exchange loss and interest charge in 2022 was D531,300,000. This extensively exceeds total operating expenses, the total staff costs, direct costs, or any other individual cost category that is incurred by the Authority.
Mr Bojang also said the operating performance of the Authority for the year under review showed improvement with turnover increasing by 74.03 percent to D618,800,000 from D355,600,000 in 2021. “This significant increase can be attributed to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He added: “Direct costs for the period increased by 14.9 percent to D83.9 million from D59,600,000 in the previous year. Variable changes over time relating to exchange rates of the dalasi against international currencies contributed to the rise in direct costs as key components of this budget were incurred in foreign currencies.
“The authority registered a gross profit of D534,900,000 in 2022, depicting an increase of 18.7 percent compared to the preceding year.”
He further highlighted: “The operating expenses such as administrative expenses, staff costs, interest, and depreciation during the year showed an increase of 2.1 percent. I am glad to report that the Authority was able to turn its operating loss of the previous year to an operating profit of D199,300,000 in the year 2022 from a loss of D32,700,000. Yet again, the authority with all its efficiency to register an operating profit could not convert savings into net profit.”
He added: “The loan portfolio increased to D3.04 billion as of December 2022 from D2,625,000,000 in 2021, an increase of 14.4 percent.”
