‘Is this the best move for AirAsia X?’
Capital A -owned AirAsia X (AAX) has set the issue price at 28 sen each with a target to raise RM116 million in capital.
The issue price represents a 32.7% discount to the price of all shares at 41.58 sen and the proposed issue rights will raise RM116 million to be used for the airline's working capital needs.
In filing on the Exchange, the company stated all approvals had been obtained for fundraising.
Earlier, the airline had obtained approval from shareholders for larger issue rights of up to RM300 million and a special issue of RM200 million to be used for its restructuring.
AAX Chief Financial Officer Andrew Littledale, who is responsible for explaining the reduction in funds to be raised, said AAX in early 2021 had RM95 million in cash and for the last 14 months on average they spent RM3 million a month.
He added that large funds are not only unnecessary at present but can also have a non -existent impact on existing shareholders who may not be able to fund larger issuance rights in the current difficult times.
Apart from that, AAX Chief Executive Officer, Benyamin Ismail said they were able to reduce its operating loss to RM12 million when it expanded its cargo business following the successful restructuring by creditors in November last year.
For the 6 -month period ended 31 December 2021, AAX reportedly accumulated net losses and revenue of RM161.08 million and RM218.58 million, respectively.
To date, AAX closed 4% lower at 60 sen with a market capitalization of RM246.91 million.
