By Cyntia Barrera and Veronica Gomez
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Leading Mexican airline operator GAP plans to boost revenues as much as 9 percent this year and said it could bid for a planned airport in the Riviera Maya tourist area if conditions are right.
"We have no restriction that would stop us from participating (in the Riviera Maya tender)," Carlos del Rio, chief executive of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, or GAP (GAPB.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(PAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), told the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit on Wednesday.
GAP runs 12 airports in western Mexico and its operations in vacation hot-spots Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos are its strongest.
Mexico's Deputy Transport Minister Manuel Rodriguez told Reuters last week that Mexico will soon tender the construction and operation of an airport in the Riviera Maya, a growing resort on Mexico's pristine Caribbean coast.
The government privatized GAP in a $1 billion stock market listing last year and the company is one of a handful in Mexico not dominated by a single main investor.
An expansion into the Riviera Maya would give GAP access to one of Caribbean's busiest vacation destinations and let it compete for foreign tourists who currently arrive at the nearby Cancun airport, owned by rival Asur (ASURB.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (ASR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
"We are looking for investment opportunities in Mexico and abroad," del Rio said, cautioning that the company would have to consider the conditions the Riviera Maya concession is eventually sold under.
With sales of $69 million in the fourth quarter, GAP is Mexico's largest airport operator, followed by Asur and then OMA (OMAB.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which manages 13 airports in central and northern Mexico and was privatized in a $434 million share offering in November.
Passenger traffic at GAP's airport should rise as much as 7 percent this year, helped along by growth in Mexico's nascent discount airline industry, del Rio said.
Discount airlines like Volaris and Interjet, launched last year, have helped push down prices and making air travel more accessible in a country still dominated by bus travel.
GAP's above-average 66 percent EBITDA margin should remain steady this year, he said.
Asur's earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization as a percentage of sales were around 59 percent in the fourth quarter and OMA's EBITDA margin was 56 percent.
New York-traded shares of GAP jumped 3.29 percent to $43.37 and the company's Mexico-traded stock gained 2.70 percent to 47.97 pesos.
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