Emirates airline group announces record $6.2 bn gross profit

Dubai's Emirates Group, which includes the Middle East's biggest airline, announced on Thursday gross annual profit of $6.2 billion, its third record in three years.

The 18 percent rise in profit, based on strong customer demand, slimmed to $5.6 billion after the UAE's recently introduced corporate tax, which was applied for a full financial year for the first time.

"The Emirates Group has raised the bar to set new records for profit, revenue and cash assets," chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a statement.

The group invested $3.8 billion in new aircraft, infrastructure and technology "to support its growth plans", the statement said.

Its workforce grew by 9 percent to an unprecedented 121,223 employees.

The group declared a $1.6 billion dividend to its owner, the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD).

Emirates airline, excluding the group's other businesses, posted a record $5.8 billion pre-tax profit, up 20 percent from the year before.

Its revenue grew by 6 percent, reaching $34.9 billion.

Emirates' ground services arm Dnata also boasted a record pre-tax profit of $430 million, up 2 percent from last year.

State-owned Emirates Group operates the world's largest long-haul carrier.

As of March, it had 314 aircraft pending delivery, including 61 A350s and 205 Boeing 777x, the statement said.

It said it was retrofitting 219 aircraft at a cost of $5 billion to make up for delayed aircraft orders.

Sheikh Ahmed had previously said the group was retrofitting 90 percent of its fleet to make up for the delays.