Two Indonesian Airlines Plan Corporate Actions for Business Expansion
Garuda Indonesia, the country's top-class airline, is planning to conduct a rights issue in the first quarter of 2014. Through this corporate action, which has already been approved by the shareholders, the state-controlled company aims to raise IDR 2 trillion (USD $162.6 million). For 2014, the airline plans to allocate IDR 4 trillion in capital expenditure (capex) for business expansion. About half of this amount should originate from funds generated through the rights issue.
The remainder of the capex is assembled through bank loans and continuous bonds. At the start of December 2013, Garuda obtained USD $200 million (for a three-year period) in loans from a consortium of banks led by Bank Central Asia (BCA).
AirAsia Indonesia's Initial Public Offering
Meanwhile, an Indonesian low cost carrier (LCC), AirAsia Indonesia, announced that it is waiting momentum to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2014. Preparations for the IPO are already in a far stage according to the company's President Director Dharmadi, except for the 2013 financial results audit.
Dharmadi also said that an IPO is impossible if the Indonesia rupiah exchange rate continues its depreciating trend. In 2013, the rupiah fell over 25 percent against the US dollar. AirAsia Indonesia plans to sell 20 to 25 percent of its enlarged capital to the public and hopes to raise USD $200 million for business expansion and financial stability.
Indonesia AirAsia is the Indonesian unit of Malaysia's AirAsia, the world's largest low cost carrier, which has been named the world's best low cost carrier by Skytrax for five consecutive years between 2009 and 2013.
Overview of the Indonesian Aviation Business
The aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific region has shown robust growth in recent years. This region is one of the world's fastest growing regions regarding air travel. In the next 20 years, an average annual seven percent growth of air traffic is expected. Indonesia, the current engine of economic growth in Southeast Asia and one of the largest economies in the Asia-Pacific, contains a burgeoning middle class that is increasingly using airplanes for domestic and international transport. Being the world's largest archipelago (containing thousands of islands), air travel is a logical option for fast travel across the country. Moreover, Indonesia's investment grade status makes it cheaper for domestic companies to finance expansion.
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
| Airline Passengers Indonesia |
58.3 | 66.0 | 72.5 |
| - Domestic (in million) |
51.7 | 58.8 | 63.6 |
| - Foreign (in million) |
6.6 | 7.2 | 8.9 |
Source: Ministry of Transportation
Moreover, a political development will provide new opportunities in Southeast Asia's aviation sector from 2015 onwards. The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community, which aims for the member countries to become a more cohesive political and economic unity, stipulates the liberalization of air travel between its member countries starting from 2015. As other ASEAN countries contain competitive airline companies, such as Malaysia's AirAsia and Singapore Airlines, it will be vital for Indonesian airlines to be fully prepared to meet this competition.
Matters that are frustrating efficiency of Indonesia's aviation business are shortages of human resources (for example pilots), inadequate air traffic management as well as lacking facilitating infrastructure for air travel. The latter includes the lack of appropriate sized airports (including runways) and tollways/railway tracks to and from airports.
Another stumbling block is that tough competition has seriously reduced profit margins for the airlines, while capital investments remain high. In combination with poor management, this has taken a few victims in recent years: Mandala Airlines (a takeover by private equity firm Saratoga Capital and Tiger Airways eventually saved the company), Pacific Royale, and Batavia Air.
Top Ten Largest Indonesian Airlines by Air Passengers in 2012:
| Domestic Passengers |
International Passengers |
|
| Lion Air |
23.94 | 1.24 |
| Garuda Indonesia |
14.07 | 3.18 |
| Sriwijaya Air | 8.10 | 0.18 |
| Batavia Air | 6.02 | 0.41 |
| AirAsia | 1.72 | 3.19 |
| Wings Air | 2.09 | 0.09 |
| Merpati | 2.12 | 0.06 |
| Citilink | 1.44 | - |
| Trigana Air | 0.70 | - |
| Kalstar Aviation | 0.40 | 0.01 |
in millions
all airlines in the table above - except for Garuda Indonesia and Indonesia AirAsia - are banned from flying to the Eurozone due to safety concerns
Source: Investor Daily
Bahas
Silakan login atau berlangganan untuk mengomentari kolom ini