Airport operator BAA posted a 2 per cent rise in annual profits today as expected after costs fell and passengers spent more money at its airports.
BAA, which is fighting an €12.8 billion bid from Spain's Ferrovial, said it expected a good financial performance this year with passenger numbers expected to rise 3.5 per cent.
"There are clear, value-creating opportunities ahead of BAA, such as our plans for Budapest, the transformation of Heathrow and a second runway at Stansted," chief executive Mike Clasper said.
The owner of London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports said pretax profit before exceptional items for the year to March 31st was €911.11 million.
This compared with an expected €921.3 million, according to the average of six analysts polled by Reuters.
BAA last month rejected a takeover bid from a consortium led by Ferrovial. US investment bank Goldman Sachs has also made an informal approach to BAA.