Acsa strengthens fuel security as profits double to R1.8bn

Banele Ginidza

Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has moved to fortify its fuel security amid the country’s ongoing energy challenges, with CEO Mpumi Mpofu warning that South Africa’s heavy reliance on fuel imports remained a risk to airport operations.

Acsa has in the recent past faced significant disruptions to flight operations at its airports as a result of fuel supply challenges due to a variety of reasons, the latest being the shutdown of the National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa (Natref), which caught fire on 4 January.

Speaking at the release of Acsa’s financial results for the year ended March 2025, Mpofu on Monday said the company had ramped up its jet fuel storage capacity to 10 days as a safeguard against supply disruptions, which have previously caused significant operational setbacks.

Mpofu said that this posed a specific challenge to Acsa since the country was more dependent on imports than ever before.

"South Africa now has one refinery instead of two. The fact that the Natref refinery was closed during the term. The second is that South Africa is now extremely dependent on imports on fuel more than it ever has been in the past," Mpofu said.

"So when there's service disruptions around that import chain, it impacts us. We normally say the only sin we have as Acsa is that we are the biggest consumer of 3.5 million litres a day. And if the market cannot supply us 3.5 million litres a day, that is what you see as disruption."

In December last year, Acsa suffered a significant fuel shortage incident at O.R. Tambo International Airport as a result of "preventable fuel supply delays", leading to significant flight disruptions.

To mitigate risk, Mpofu said the company has invested in upgrades to its fuel infrastructure, including bypass systems, a new 18-inch pipeline, and plans to expand storage tanks at key airports.

"Basically, it's a new system that would have bypassed the particular valve that was problematic at the time the incident occurred. So that was the first exercise," Mpofu said.

"The second part is that we had to do what's called an 18-inch line, which is a replacement of a second jet fuel line. So between the bypass and the 18-inch and the 20-inch, if there's a system failure on one, we click to the other.

"So at the end of implementation of this, we would have ensured that we've created sufficient redundancy in the system and mitigated the risk of ever having an incident of the jet fuel or the nature of the jet fuel that we had."

Mpofu said Acsa now has a proposal for the expansion of the fuel tanks so the airport can then cater for more fuel and that minimizes the risk in instances when it runs short from the external suppliers whose own risks are beyond its control.

She said Acsa's long-term strategy was anchored on resilience, sustainability, and digitisation, with projects ranging from predictive maintenance to biometric-enabled passenger journeys.

The company is also partnering with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and The Innovation Hub to drive aviation research and innovation.

Acsa also reported a sharp improvement in its financial performance. Net profit doubled to R1.8 billion from R472 million in 2024, while revenue grew 13% to R7.9bn, supported by strong growth across aeronautical and non-aeronautical income streams.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to R2.9bn, reflecting a healthy 37% margin. Acsa declared R310m in dividends compared to R815m a year earlier.

The board approved the payment of R198m in accrued preference share dividends and declared R113m in ordinary share dividends for 2024/25. 

Capital expenditure rose to R861m as Acsa accelerated investment in infrastructure renewal. The group has also earmarked R21.7bn in capital projects over the next five years, with flagship upgrades at O.R. Tambo International, Cape Town International, and several regional airports.

Chief financial officer Luzuko Mbotya said the improved dividend payout reflected the group’s strengthened balance sheet and recovery from the effects of the pandemic.

"This marks a sharp improvement from 2023/24, when total dividends amounted to R815m, comprising R768m for preference shares and R47m for ordinary shares," Mbotya said.

"The year-on-year growth in ordinary dividends reflects not only Acsa's stronger balance sheet but also the company’s sustained recovery and renewed capacity to deliver value to shareholders." 

BUSINESS REPORT