Last year = £20million in dividend payout: £1 million each for 9 councils and £11 million for Manchester Council. £65.5 million profit - not too bad a return
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I do think that is a very very low return for an asset of this size and type. As one example only, if the shareholders are getting £20m and they should be aiming for at least a basic 5% return on this type of asset (and really a lot higher), this implies that the equity is only worth £400m. It is worth a damsight more, but is simply not delivering appropriate shareholder returns.
The councils' overriding focus should be on maximising what they have rather than being sucked into management's agenda.
Again, why do the council tax payers of Manchester want to own an airport in Essex?