Macquarie Airports, Australia's biggest owner of airports, may consider returning some of its cash to shareholders should the company not make any acquisitions this year, spokeswoman Karen Halbert said.

The subsidiary of Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd may give AU$2.2 billion (US$1.9 billion) back to stockholders if its majority stake in Brussels International Airport is revalued after a jump in earnings, The Australian reported on August 3.

The sale in June of Macquarie Airports' stake in Italy's Aeroporti di Roma in June for almost three times what it paid four years ago, coupled with the US$350,000 refinancing of Brussels Airport had left the company in a comfortable cash position, Halbert said by telephone from Sydney.

"We're very open about the fact we have quite a lot of cash at the moment," she said. "We're focused on making acquisitions, but if we're unable to do that then we'll find a way to return the money to shareholders." It may pursue acquisitions in Europe and the United States, UBS AG said in a June 18 report. Macquarie Airports bought Spanish company Grupo Ferrovial SA's 21 percent stake in Sydney's international airport this year and led an investment group that acquired a 9.6-percent stake in Japan Airport Terminal Co on July 27, Bloomberg News reported.

There have also been reports it may be interested in taking over New Zealand's Auckland International Airport Ltd. "Macquarie Airports doesn't comment on mergers and acquisitions," Halbert said.

Should it revalue the Brussels stake after the airport posted a 13-percent increase in full-year profit on August 2, Macquarie Airports may announce a higher revaluation of the stake in its August 29 earnings release, The Australian said.

Giving Back

It may also have plans for a special dividend or stock buyback, through which investors could receive as much as AU$1.31 per share should the company give back all the money, the report said.

Halbert declined to comment on whether the Brussels stake would be revalued or what form a possible dividend issue or buyback would take.

Macquarie is keen to build Brussels' low-cost carrier infrastructure and long-haul operations over the next three to five years, Chief Executive Officer Kerrie Mather told The Australian.