AIRASIA GROUP Berhad (AAGB) announced that it is set to complete its renounceable rights issue to its existing shareholders on Dec. 31 in a bid to support its fundraising efforts.
AAGB said in a statement on Wednesday that the renounceable rights issue to its existing shareholders, upon listing of the redeemable convertible unsecured Islamic debt securities (RCUIDS) and warrants on the Bursa Malaysia’s main market, is raising Malaysian Ringgit (RM) 974.5 million.
According to AAGB, the rights issue involved the issuance of seven-year RCUIDS with a nominal value of RM0.75 apiece, plus free detachable warrants, on the basis of 2 RCUIDS with 1 warrant for every 6 company shares.
“The rights issue will enable AAGB to support various segments of the group, including but not limited to, working capital and other operational costs incurred due to the outbreak of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and costs required to ramp-up operations to be prepared for the rebound of international travel, balanced with funding growth of the various AirAsia digital business unit,” it said.
AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Anthony Francis “Tony” Fernandes said the rights issue is a vital component of the company’s overall fundraising strategy supporting a strong rebound in air travel across ASEAN in 2022.
“We are gradually resuming flights in all of our key markets and look forward to returning to pre-COVID levels on many of our popular routes in the new year alongside strong vaccination rates, better testing procedures and education in all of our markets,” Mr. Fernandes said.
“Importantly, with today’s announcement, our fundraising strategy remains firmly on track. We have now achieved over RM2.5 billion of fundraising, providing strong liquidity to ramp up operations through next year when we expect to be sustainable and driving shareholder value once again,” he added.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Philippines said it had vaccinated 20% of its employees with the booster shot as part of the company’s vaccination campaign against COVID-19.
The carrier said in a separate statement on Wednesday that its efforts to strengthen the administration of booster shots is in line with the country’s intensified program as it seeks to maintain its low-risk status notwithstanding the threat from any emerging COVID-19 variant.
AirAsia Philippines said it saw a 15-20% increase in bookings for near-term travel within the past 30 to 60 days.
“Load factor for the month of December was registered at 91% while January is currently at 45%,” it said.
AirAsia Philippines Spokesperson Steve F. Dailisan said the company is already seeing an influx of passengers from Metro Manila to the different provinces across the country.
“For this reason, our ground and flight crew remain on standby to provide the very best service and guest experience including a focus on making sure that all our flights arrive on time,” Mr. Dailisan said.
“Taking the booster shot is our shared responsibility to ensure that all guest-interactions at the airport and onboard our flights have an added layer of protection against any emerging variant. We will continue to strengthen our multi-layered approaches to health and safety, and instill confidence amongst our guests throughout the peak end of year holiday season and into 2022,” he added. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
