Queenstown Airport has reported a substantial increase in its operating profit for the year ended June but changing regulatory requirements mean some major differences in the way the accounts are presented publicly.
Earnings before tax rose nearly 42% to $3.3 million and operating revenue rose by 18.4% in the same period.
However, changes announced in the May Budget to the building depreciation rules meant the company had to allow more than $7 million in its account for tax, up from $705,000 last year.
That caused the company to report an after-tax loss of $3.75 million compared with a profit of $1.6 million in the previous corresponding period.
Airport chairman Mark Taylor said in his annual report the company had changed its accounting policy for its annual financial statements with respect to the recognition of land, buildings, roading, car parking and runways from historical cost to the revaluation.
The effect of the change was to increase the recorded equity of the company by $77 million.
"Restructuring our balance sheet has quite literally transformed Queenstown Airport from a liability to the Queenstown Lakes District Council into an asset," he said.
The accounts show the council also had to transfer $35.5 million of secured borrowings to its current liabilities, meaning the current liabilities blew out to $38.8 million from $1.6 million last year.
However, the non-current liabilities fell by $30.5 million because of the restructuring.
The revaluation reserve also substantially pushed up the airport company's total assets to $88.7 million from $17.3 million in 2009.
The operating cash flow remained positive at a net $6.7 million from $4.97 million last year.
