Alpha hit by airline cutbacks

The effect of 11 September on the airline industry hit flight catering and airport retail group Alpha Airports hard, causing it to report a massive pre-tax loss for the year to 31 January.

During the year Alpha recorded a pre-tax loss of £6.9m, against a pre-tax profit of £5.9m a year earlier.

The loss included exceptional items of £23.1m resulting from redundancy and flight kitchen closures in Australia and losses at the group's retail operations in the UK.

Turnover fell by 0.5% to £430.8m, down from £433m in 2001.

Alpha's flight kitchen services started the year well, with sales up by 3% in the first six months and operating profit from continuing operations up by 20%.

The year ended with sales from continuing operations down by less than 1% to £261.7m, from £263.9m a year earlier.

Despite the losses, Kevin Abbott, chief executive of Alpha, was optimistic.

He said: "We see signs that a recovery in airline travel is under way, and the actions we have taken position us well to benefit from this recovery."

The group said it was now in good shape to grow and make investments and acquisitions, both in the UK and internationally.