Highlights

• Strong financial performance (EBITDA +17.2% to £283.6m) that has exceeded expectations and been driven by industry-leading increases in both passenger numbers and commercial revenues.

• Long-term commercial agreements with airlines have generated a significant increase in passengers (+10.7% to 48.5m), driven by record numbers at Manchester Airport (+7.2% to 22.3m) and unrivalled growth at London Stansted Airport (+16.1% to 20.9m). Together, Stansted and Manchester’s growth exceeded that of Heathrow and Gatwick airports combined.

• Continued expansion of the route network with important extensions to short-haul and long-haul connectivity including the arrival of new flights to Hong Kong, Orlando, Cancun, Las Vegas, Miami and Iraq.

• Unveiling of the ‘Manchester Airport Transformation Programme’ – a £1bn, 10-year plan that will deliver a significant upgrade of the facilities at the airport, ensuring that it continues to thrive as a national asset and play an even greater role as the ‘UK Global Gateway from the North’.

• Substantial investment in airport infrastructure, including; significant improvements to the security and retail facilities and the opening of a new lounge at London Stansted; completion of a £12m terminal redevelopment at East Midlands; opening of the Metrolink extension and the expansion of the security area in Terminal 1 at Manchester Airport; continued development of the Group’s car park estate; and improvements to the Group’s IT capabilities.

• Ongoing diversification of the property investment portfolio with the announcement of additional Airport City projects including two new logistics developments totalling 448,000 sq ft and a 75,000 sq ft office scheme. Planning consent also granted for a new 350 bedroom hotel at London Stansted.

• Appointment of Rosie Andolino as Chief Executive and President of M.A.G’s new airport services business in North America. M.A.G – USA will work with airports to develop and operate terminal and retail solutions, passenger lounges and car parking facilities.

• Sir Adrian Montague joined M.A.G as Chairman, bringing with him significant experience of public-private partnerships, financial services and infrastructure sectors that will help guide the next phase of M.A.G’s development.

• Stansted well-placed to absorb future growth in London’s aviation demand prior to any new runway being built.

• Group announces a final dividend of £62m to be paid in July 2015, taking total payments in respect of the full year ended 31 March 2015, to £93m.

Sir Adrian Montague, Chairman of M.A.G, said: “Since becoming Chairman in September 2014, I have seen at first hand the strong relationships M.A.G has with its many stakeholders and the increasingly important contribution its four UK airports continue to play at a national, regional and local level. Our airports directly employ 40,000 people, with another 21,000 people employed through our supply chain. In terms of economic value, they contribute £4bn in Gross Value Added to the UK economy each year.

“The Group has a long-term objective of providing sustainable dividends to shareholders. I am delighted to announce a final dividend of £62m will be paid in July 2015, taking payments in respect of the full year ended 31 March 2015, to £93m. This level of dividends reflects both the strong performance in the current year and our confidence in the future of the business. The outlook for the Group remains strong and we will continue to focus on delivering further growth by attracting new routes and successfully delivering investment in our UK airports and growing our new US business.”

Charlie Cornish, Chief Executive Officer of M.A.G, said: “M.A.G has delivered a fifth consecutive year of strong growth, investment and development that has enabled us to exceed expectations across many of our key measures, including the delivery of industry leading passenger numbers and trading performance.

“The success of M.A.G’s commercial and operational strategy is reflected in the fact that we have welcomed nearly 5 million more passengers into our four airports and been able to offer them an increasingly diverse range of facilities, unparalleled choice of airlines and range of destinations that has taken them all over the world.

“I am especially pleased with the performance of our two largest airports, Manchester and London Stansted, which are both currently enjoying robust growth and have bright futures ahead of them.

“In addition to improving the infrastructure across all of our airports, we have continued to focus an increasing proportion of our investment on projects that significantly enhance our customers’ experience of using our facilities. We also announced the creation of M.A.G U.S, headed by Rosie Andolino. As the North American aviation industry continues to evolve, we are confident that our experience will position us well to capitalise on this.

“Our airports have a vital role to play in the next 10-15 years as London expands eastwards, the Northern Powerhouse becomes a reality and runway capacity in the South East becomes even scarcer. Following the Airports Commission’s submission of its Final Report, it is imperative that the focus of Government and other stakeholders is on the practical steps needed to maximise the potential of existing airport capacity in the period before any new runway is completed.

“We continue to request that Government and Network Rail apply greater efforts to improve the rail links into Stansted and Manchester, which together can accommodate an extra 50-60 million passengers a year.”