Hurricane Fabian has been blamed for the nosedive in Bermuda Aviation Services? profits, which dropped by nearly 30 percent to $1.1 million in the first six months of the year.

And the company, which services planes flying in and out of Bermuda, said that its bottom line would be reduced further in the wake of the fall in the number flights after the storm.

But despite this, management said the first six months of the year, apart from September, had been good and the year?s profits although down, would be ?solid?.

?The majority of the decline in revenue can be attributed to Hurricane Fabian, which caused the closure of the airport for several days and greatly reduced the number of flights operated for many weeks,? said Patricia Lynn, vice chairman of BAS in the company?s six monthly interim report. ?Ninety percent of the $0.4m decline in revenue for the six months was experienced during the month of September.?

With the slump in tourism, the company has been busy diversifying its business into food and owns not only Crow Lane Bakery but also Weir Enterprises. BAS is also the majority shareholder in BAS-Serco, which continues to offer services to both the public and private sectors, and operates a garage for internal and external customers.

The company has also faced further adversity with the number of people flying since September 11, 2001 down which was compounded by the SARS outbreak as well as the added discomfort of new security for international air travel.But despite this difficult environment BAS during the fiscal 2003 was the second best year in the company?s history in terms of net earnings and earnings from operations. Revenue from aviation services for the year fell by $1.4 million in the company?s last fiscal year, yet overall company revenues were ahead by two percent, or $0.4 million, to $19.5 million.

But the latest Hurricane Fabian, on the other hand, has had a damaging effect across the board for the company?s earnings for the first six months of the year which were reported yesterday.

In a letter to shareholders Ms Lynn said that consolidated revenue was down during the six month period by 4 percent or $0.4 million and expenses decreased slightly by 0.5 percent which resulted in an operating profit from continuing operations of $1.2 million which was 24 percent lower that the same period a year earlier.The six months results for our company are good, but with the recent catastrophic event that affected all of Bermuda, and the resulting loss of revenues, they are below those of the same period a year ago,? said Ms. Lynn. She reported that revenue in the aircraft servicing segment increased 3 percent for the period, resulting in a 4 percent increase in its contribution to operating earnings.

The food service segment however, saw a decline of $0.5 million or 13 percent in revenue and an operating loss of $0.3 million. Included within this segment is Crow Lane Bakery Ltd. which, despite experiencing only a 1 percent increase in revenue, increased its operating profit by 57 percent over 2002, she said, adding the performance of Weir Enterprises Ltd. remains solid with its contribution to operating profit matching that of 2002.

?As we move to divest of our interest in the business of D. E. Mortimer & Co. Ltd., we have ceased to recognise the income of this company and show it as a discontinued operation,? she said. Ms Lynn added that revenues realised from the continued administration of the company are recognised as other income. She said: ?As a result of flight schedules having been reduced earlier and more severely than usual our aviation business will experience a reduction in earnings for the full year. Performances in all other businesses are expected to meet or exceed plan. We do expect our financial results for the full year although lower, to be solid.?