Air Seychelles achieves a profit of USD 8.4 million in 2022

Air Seychelles, the national carrier of the Republic of Seychelles announces a profit of USD 8.4 million for the year 2022.

This was the first year of profit for Air Seychelles since 2016 when it reported a small gain of USD 425k.

After reporting a loss of USD 22.7m in 2021 and starting the year 2022 with a negative net asset position of USD 100.6m, the year 2022 was one of exceptional recovery for Air Seychelles. Prior to the start of 2022, the airline had suffered the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which included the shutting down of its key routes and the shrinking of its revenue streams.

Through the Company Reorganization (Administration) process, Air Seychelles paid the agreed settlement of USD 28.16m owed to the Bondholders in May
2022. The payment was made from a USD 16.5m bank loan from Nouvobanq and USD 11.7m of Air Seychelles’ cash reserves. This marked an incredible achievement, closing the chapter on the USD 71.5m debt burden that the company had been carrying since 2015/16.

Air Seychelles successfully exited the Company Reorganisation in November 2022 and ended the year with a positive net asset position of USD 19 million. This is an improvement of USD 104 million from its net asset position of negative USD 85 million at the start of the Company Reorganisation process.

This remarkable restructuring success was further backed by an impressive upswing in the company’s operational and ongoing financial performance. Overall revenue had recovered to 93% of 2019 levels for the year and even exceeded 2019 levels in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The company managed to almost fully utilise the international jet aircraft fleet, with one aircraft dedicated to ACMI operations while the other operated commercial scheduled flight operations. With borders reopened, scheduled operations were re-established to Johannesburg, Tel Aviv, Mauritius and Mumbai, with a seasonal Almaty operation launched in December.

By the end of 2022, the company had achieved an overall profit of USD 119.6m and, after excluding the debt write-off gains from the debt discounts during the company reorganisation process, made a profit of USD 8.4m. This profit enabled Air Seychelles to make repayments on its debt obligations.

The Board of Directors and the acting CEO would like to extend their gratitude to all its employees, the Government of Seychelles, the Administrators, the creditors, its legal counsels, and the general public for their contributions and support provided to the company in achieving one of the greatest positive turnarounds in the history of Air Seychelles.