What I learnt from AirAsia AGM 2019 - thestockmonger

On 27^th June 2019, I travelled to CAE Kuala Lumpur to attend the AirAsia AGM 2019. I was somewhat anxious because of a few reasons. First, this is my first time attending a public company’s AGM, I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly. Second, I’m about to see Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin in person, also for the first time. Third, my car was low on gas and I wasn’t sure if I can make it back to KL. (not related to the AGM but yeah)

If you want to skip to the main points (the things I learnt in the AGM), just start reading at “6 Things I learnt from AirAsia AGM 2019“.

If you enjoy some drama and stories, read the whole thing.

Getting to CAE Kuala Lumpur

Prior to Airasia AGM 2019, AirAsia X’s AGM took place just one day ago in the same venue. I had a friend working in Investor Relation for AirAsia X, he advised me to reach the venue early. This was based on what he observed during AAX AGM. The registration for AAX shareholders was on-going until 11.00am although the AGM starts at 10am, many of the shareholders were unhappy. Not only that, the latecomers had no place to sit and had to stand throughout the meeting. He also said that the physical copy of the annual reports are limited, some of the AAX shareholders hoarded the annual report and resold them on the spot, just to make a small profit from their attendance. Whut?

Needless to say, I heeded his advice and arrived in CAE KL at 8am.

Registration

Although I reached at 8am, I wasn’t the first. There was already a short line waiting to register and get their goodies. I managed to snap a quick photo of the writings on the wall in the registration room, it seems that this room was meant to be a classroom when the AGM isn’t taking place.

The registration process was quite straightforward.

Present IC
Fill in a form
Get a Tricor Wristband (for voting)
Get a food stamp (goodie bag)

Then walk out of the room and get a copy of the annual report and proceed to the cafeteria to redeem the goodie bag using the food stamp. The girl who handed me the goodie bag was cute and tall. DM me if you’re the cute girl and you’re reading this! (wink wink)

The goodie bag contains Santan and T&CO merchandises which includes a nasi lemak box, chicken wrapping and mineral water. I decided to bring them home for my lunch since I already had my breakfast before coming to the AGM.

After that, I just chilled and entered the hall when the door opened.

6 Things I learnt from AirAsia AGM 2019

Some of the things mentioned were already mentioned in their previous annual report. I summarized it in this post.

It’s not easy to take notes on my phone while listening to what Tony said. Especially with so many gorgeous AirAsia Staff around, it is so difficult to focus. But I did my best and if you would like to add in other crucial info that I might have missed out, just comment below or contact me.

AirAsia is on the verge of overtaking EasyJet

Airasia is now one of the largest airline in the world. In Tony’s book Flying High, he mentioned that AirAsia’s operation was inspired by easyJet and now they’re a few million passengers away from surpassing them.

AirAsia’s Foreign operations

AirAsia Indonesia is growing slowly but definitely
AirAsia India has now fulfilled the local government’s requirement of having at least 20 planes to fly international. Now, they’re waiting for approval
Japan currently has 2 planes and routes with a load factor of 80%. Tony mention that it is only a matter of time before they take up market share.
China likes AirAsia because other airline takes the people away from China but AirAsia takes people TO China.
AirAsia Phillipines has potential to become the largest airline in Phillipines
AirAsia Vietnam still looking for suitable partner

Airasia’s fleet is currently 74% leased and 26% owned

Tony mention that it is currently cheaper to lease the aircrafts. They will look to buy aircraft when the interest rate is lower.

AirAsia 3.0

AirAsia 3.0 focuses on 4 pillars. Marketplace, logistics, digital bank & Insurance and Entertainment

Market Place
airasia.com has impressions and visitor volume that rivals even big names like traveloka and Expedia. They are looking to maximize their revenue by tapping into e-commerce, hotels, insurance etc
Logistic
Baggage fee will adjust depending on routes. Will use cargo space for logistics. (didn’t manage to write notes when this was being discussed)
Digital Bank & Insurance
BigPay will become a digital bank. Currently pending license from Bank Negara and will be launched in ASEAN countries depending on regulation. It will be tied up with Tune Protect to do banking and insurance.
Lifestyle
Planning to open T&CO and Santan outlets in shopping malls. 10% owned and 90% franchised.

To know more, you can watch this video.

Management

Management will continue to put cost cutting as number 1 priority to serve more people. In addition, they plan to add 20 to 30 new aircraft every year.

Data is AirAsia’s biggest asset

Tony is confident that their airline operation can become more efficient by using the data they have collected. For example, they can observe on a certain route and certain day, an aircraft may consume less fuel compared to other days. They will find out the reason and try to duplicate it so that they may save fuels. Another example is they can use a certain planes for certain routes if the data shows that it is more fuel efficient to do so.

On the other hand, AirAsia wants to have 70% of their revenue derive from non-airline operation in the future. This will ease the concerns of fuel price in the future. We already seen that ancillary income contributes only 8% back in 2008 but now contributes 21% of total revenue.

There are more information from the meeting but I think I’ll just leave you with these. Overall, the message seemed to be very positive and the shareholders who attended were content with the special dividend.

Last thoughts and goodies

Now that we got the information out of the way, I want to share a little about my personal experience in attending my first AGM and also the goodies that I got from it.

First of all, I was shocked to see so many senior citizens attending AirAsia AGM 2019. I reached the place at 8am and the registration line is already filled with uncles and aunties with white hairs. There were young peoples as well but we’re the minorities. One of the old man even tried to use his seniority to go into the meeting hall to get a seat early. He kept telling the stewardess “Oi, don’t let us old people stand here and wait lah”

Next, there were people who’re hoarding the annual reports as mentioned by my friend who worked in AirAsia X. I saw with my own eyes a lady holding 3 annual reports in her hands smiling with glee. Seriously?

In the meeting, I’m really impressed by how well-spoken Tony and Kamarudin is. They obviously know their things and is able to give clear statement and answers to the questions of the shareholders in attendance. It really felt great to be able to see them in person.

Most of the questions asked by shareholders in attendance are actually good questions and very meaningful. I heard rumors of shareholders asking really stupid questions or complaining about unrelated things in AGMs before. Luckily, it was not the case for AirAsia AGM 2019.

After the voting session, I was really happy that I got Tony to sign my copy of Flying High. I didn’t ask for a picture together because I don’t think it was appropriate at the moment. He was still sitting on the stage. I decided that right thing was to respect his personal space. After all, later everyone also wants a photo with him then susah lah. So I’m content with what I got.

Then, I move out the room to get some freebies. There was a lucky draw for people who have installed AirAsia BIG point app on the phone. All you had to do was give them your Big ID and use their lucky draw app and get a freebies. The line was excruciatingly slow because there were a lot of technologically challenged senior citizens in the line. I got a notebook and I heard there were people who won BIG points.

Goodies

As mentioned before, the food stamp given can be used to exchange some Santan food products

The food was quite nice, at least for me. Here are photos inside the Nasi Lemak and Chicken Wrap.

The chicken wrap is really meaty.

I forgot to take a photo of the Nasi Lemak before I eat. So here’s a photo of the Nasi Lemak after I finish eating it. I also got a free notebook from AirAsia and also got my book signed by Tony.