The Emirates Group Tuesday announced its half-year results, which show a robust performance despite continued global economic pressure and high fuel prices, and reflect the group’s steady focus on its long-term vision and business growth.

The Emirates Group revenues reached AED42.3 billion ($11.5 billion) for the first six months of its current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2013, up 13 percent from AED37.5 billion ($10.2 billion) at Sept. 30,2012.

Net profit for the group rose to AED2.2 billion ($600 million), an increase of 4 percent over last year’s results. The group’s cash position on Sept. 30, 2013 was at AED18.2 billion ($4.9 billion), compared to AED27 billion ($7.3 billion) as at March 31, 2013. This is after a AED1.8 billion bond repayment, which matured in July 2013, a AED367 million first installment payment on a $1 billion sukuk, and a AED7 billion injection back into the business to fund new aircraft, engines, spares and other projects across the group.

“The global business environment continues to be challenging. We have stayed agile even as we grow, and this ability to adapt and act quickly has been key to our success. Our investments in the infrastructure of both Emirates and dnata continue to pay off and while we keep a close watch on managing our immediate business targets, we never lose sight of our long-term goals, and that is why we continue to invest to build the business,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

In the past six months, the group continued to invest in and expand its employee base, increasing its overall staff count by 11.7 percent to over 75,800 compared with March 31, 2013.

During the first six months of the fiscal year, Emirates received 10 wide-body aircraft — six A380s, three 777s and one 777 freighter, with 15 more new aircraft scheduled to be delivered before the end of the financial year (March 31, 2014).

In the first half of the 2013-2014 fiscal year, Emirates net profit is AED1.7 billion ($475 million), up 2 percent from the same period last year.

Operating the world’s largest fleet of A380s and the largest fleet of Boeing 777s, Emirates continues to provide ever better connections for its customers across the globe with just one stop in Dubai, by investing in its route network. It now flies to 137 destinations in 77 countries, up from 126 cities last year in 74 countries.

The Emirates A380 has also celebrated five years of operations, carrying over 18 million passengers since its first flight on Aug. 1, 2008 from Dubai to New York.

Emirates carried 21.5 million passengers since April 1, 2013, up 15 percent from the same period last year. The volume of cargo uplifted was up by 5.2 percent, a remarkable growth and performance against the market trend.