https://www.msn.com/en-my/money/topstories/...T?ocid=msedgntpAccording to Shukor, one thing that investors are probably a bit concerned about is that SIA is one of the very few carriers in the world without a hinterland or domestic market. The airline has also been one of the hardest hit in terms of passenger traffic alongside its Hong Kong-based rival Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.
“Its cash burn rate was still in excess of S$100 million in 1HFY2022. On top of that they run all these large wide-body aircraft. Then again, they have to continue with that and persevere. I think they understand where they are coming from (and) where oil prices are likely going to be in the near future, and that is going to have a huge impact on them,” he says. He was a panellist at the recent OAG webinar.
SIA has raised S$21.6 billion in fresh funds since April 1, 2020, including S$8.8 billion from a rights issue. In January, it was reportedly aiming to raise up to S$1 billion in a US dollar bond deal.
“Is that (S$1 billion) going to be sufficient? Not at all. They have burnt well over S$10 billion in the last 18 months. They are still very well capitalised, well funded, but the need for cash is so huge that I think they will have to go to the market again later this year to sustain their business given the fact that interest rates and oil prices are rising and that Singapore is a hugely expensive place to do business today compared with pre-Covid-19 times. Also, they haven’t really got rid of a lot of staff so they are still very much at the previous employment level,” he adds.
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On Capital A Bhd (formerly AirAsia Group Bhd), which recently slipped into Practice Note 17 status, Shukor is of the view that the airline’s pivot from just an airline to an investment holding company
suggests that it is seeing increasingly less potential post-Covid-19 for the group to extract the sort of revenue and profits that it had done so previously.“Tony (Capital A CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes) didn’t come from an airline background, so he is seeing things differently. The group now has Teleport, ride hailing, food delivery, drones, etc. I am not sure that the money that they have can sustain (those ventures), but if anyone can defy the odds, Tony can. He is very sure about what he is getting into.”
However, Shukor is less optimistic about AirAsia X Bhd’s (AAX) prospects. “I think there is very little that can be done with a low-cost long-haul carrier. It is very difficult post-Covid-19 to sustain that business but we understand that Airbus has a lot of exposure — with AAX being the largest airline that has ordered the A330neo — and a lot of leasing companies are also exposed to AAX. I see the reason why it has been kept going even though there is no practical or real reason for it to continue,” he says.