The Airport Authority reported a net profit after tax of $386 million for 2003-04. For the first time, it has declared and paid a dividend of $380 million to the Government.

Turnover fell by $378 million over the previous year to $5.04 billion, while operating costs before depreciation dropped slightly to $2.69 billion, according to the authority's 2003-04 annual report tabled at the Legislative Council today.

This is the fourth consecutive year of profit despite the impact of SARS that reduced passenger numbers by 19.1% to 27.7 million. Nevertheless, cargo continued robust growth and registered 2.74 million tonnes, up 7.5% on the previous year.

Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr David Pang said SARS, for the first half of the financial year, almost brought business to a standstill and impacted revenue.

"Assisted by the speedy recovery in business after SARS, we were able to post a profit after tax of $386 million for the full year - this would have been more than the earnings of the previous year if we had not spent $192 million in relief and incentive programmes to help our business partners during SARS," he said.

"Again, we have shown that HK International Airport is a resilient business organisation with the ability to overcome major crises and manage our business profitability whether in good or difficult times."