Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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PARIS (June 16): AirAsia Bhd is already "in talks" with a few parties for its US$300 million bonds issuance, which it expects to happen in three months' time.

"The bond issue will be in three months' time," AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes told reporters at the 51st International Paris Air Show.

Tony is confident on the take-up rate of the bond issueance, despite sckeptism from analysts.

He said half of the proceeds of the corporate exercise will be used to reduce the debts for the associates as they owed money to the parent company.

"We may capitalise some of it before their IPOs to maintain our 49% stake," Tony added.

He said Phillipines and Indonesia associates' listing plan remains and will be in 2017.

On GMT Research’s report that questioned the airline's accounting, profit generation, cash-flow issues, leverage and group strcuture in a June 10 report, Fernandes defended AirAsia and said that the group’s accounts are transparent and that is the reason why "people could do such analysis" on it.

In its report, GMT said AirAsia used transactions with associate companies to boost earnings, startling investors and leading the airline's shares to fall to a five-year low.

"In fact, CIMB Research said our accounts are more transparent than Singapore Airlines," said Fernandes today, adding that its accounts are audited by Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Earlier, Reuters reported that shares of AirAsia had dropped as much as 8.9% today, the day after founder Fernandes wrote to investors to outline plans to raise funds and cut debt.

Stock in AirAsia, the biggest low-cost airline in Asia, closed at RM1.64, down 8.4%, after dropping to a five-year low of RM1.63 earlier.

 

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