Singapore-headquartered ground handler SATS has reported that strong cargo volume growth across Asia, Europe and the Middle East helped it drive up revenues in its third quarter.
The Singapore-headquartered handler said its revenues rose 8% to S$1.5bn for the three months ended 31 December.
SATS said it was able to position its global operations to benefit from trade flow shifts amid uncertainties surrounding tariff policies and geopolitical developments.
Speaking about its rise in revenues, the company said: “This was mainly driven by strong cargo performance despite global trade flow volatility.”
The company added that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 12.8% to S$297.7m.
Operating profit for the quarter rose 18.8% year-on-year to S$151.3m, with operating profit margin
expanding from 8.4% in the prior year to 9.2%.
“This improvement was driven by operating leverage from increased volume and sustained progress in operational efficiency,” commented SATS.
Some of the company’s achievements last year included opening a new air cargo facility at Changi Airport, the selection of SATS Saudia Arabia to provide cargo handling services for Riyadh Air at several airports across the country, and an agreement with Air China Cargo to focus on joint growth in cargo handling and integrated logistics solutions across key global markets.
Meanwhile, its Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) subsidiary extended its partnership with Saudia Cargo for cargo handling services at eight international gateways in Europe and the US, amongst other developments.
Kerry Mok, SATS president and chief executive, said: “We delivered strong third quarter
performance with record high cargo volume driven by seasonal peak demand, marking our ninth
consecutive quarter outperforming industry benchmarks.
“Recent wins reinforce our market momentum, including a new cargo and ramp contract in Paris with
China Cargo, multi-station awards across Europe and the Americas with Saudia Cargo, and an
inflight catering contract with Turkish Airlines, deepening our global footprint.”
Throughout this year, SATS said it expected continued volume growth across its network from market share gains and business from new customers
SATS is one of the world’s largest providers of air cargo handling services and Asia’s leading airline caterer. SATS Gateway Services provides airfreight and ground handling services, including passenger services, ramp and baggage handling, aviation security services, aircraft cleaning and aviation laundry.
The company is present in Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Following the acquisition of Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in 2023, the combined SATS
and WFS network operates over 225 stations in 27 countries.
