https://m.malaysiakini.com/letters/468121

:)

Business news website Focus Malaysia said on Monday, citing an official document, that Khazanah had been pushing for AirAsia's long haul unit AirAsia X to merge with Malaysia Airlines.

KUALA LUMPUR/SINGAPORE (Jan 21): Proposals to invest in ailing Malaysia Airlines include one from Air France-KLM which wants as much as 49% while Japan Airlines is looking at a 25% stake, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Domestic carrier AirAsia Group Bhd and Malindo Air, the Malaysian arm of Indonesia's Lion Air, have also submitted proposals, the sources said.

"The bids from the foreign carriers are more comprehensive and strategic as both plan to capitalise on the strategic location of Malaysia for their operations," said one of the sources.

The Malaysian government has been seeking a strategic partner for its national airline, which has struggled to recover from two tragedies — the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 and the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine.

In 2014, it was taken private by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which paid RM1.4 billion (US$345 million) for the 30% of shares it did not already own.

The sources declined to be identified as the discussions are confidential. Representatives for Air France-KLM, Japan Airlines (JAL), AirAsia and Malindo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday five proposals had been received as part of a review that started last year but declined to name the suitors.

Malaysia Airlines last year signed a joint venture agreement with JAL covering flights between Malaysia and Japan, which the Japanese airline said could be expanded in the future to cover US flights.

Malaysia Airlines and JAL are both members of the oneworld airline alliance, while Air France-KLM is part of the rival SkyTeam alliance.

Khazanah, which appointed Morgan Stanley last year to advise on potential options for the airline, said it was working closely with the government.

"While there have been several proposals in this regard, a review of the options available to us is still ongoing," Khazanah said in a statement.

Sources said Air France-KLM had proposed setting up a hub for maintenance, repair and overhaul services in Malaysia, while Japan Airlines had offered to make the Southeast Asian country its regional hub, including for low-cost flights.

Business news website Focus Malaysia said on Monday, citing an official document, that Khazanah had been pushing for AirAsia's long haul unit AirAsia X to merge with Malaysia Airlines.

"An international solution is probably better in this situation as AirAsia would have competition concerns," one of the sources said.

"This is still a work in progress but the story is around the potential for a massive hub in Southeast Asia and it's clear that international airlines see value in Malaysia Airlines because of this," the source said.

As long as mas becomes profitable, tax payers punya Wang tak dibazirkan

Nothing is impossible, be hopeful :)

JAL offered RM1.2bil for a 25% in mas, surely there is value proposition in mas. Hopefully, a Malaysian group gets it :)

Surely in whatever situation, they will be 2 forces, supportive or resistance :)

Agreed. If some people just focus on the negative, let it be :)

@scholez18 If merger happens, I see only positives. Increased market share, reduce pricing competition, increased profitability, maybe even lesser fighting with the authority given that AA is now carries a "national carrier". Huge, huge synergies in my opinion. Our national pride MAS gets to be saved, and would be managed by a world class airline operator - best for all parties.

Comment on AA needing a bailout is nonsense. Unless we reading different financial statements. AAX maybe, but not AAG.
21/01/2020 9:44 AM

Mas and AirAsia union will make both airlines profitable e.g. reducing overcapacity, streamlining destination served, economies of scale in plane leasing, etc. Malaysia is not a rich country, people are very budget conscious. If a destination is served by budget airlines, majority will choose it

Najib takut dulu. Madey has nothing to fear :) mas-airasia union :)

However, it was called off in 2012, amid pressure from MAS workers’ union due to fear of job cuts.

Waiting for EPF to enter , more lively :)

AIRASIA Shareholding Changes
Date of change Shares Director/
Substantial Shareholder
19 Dec 2019 Acquired
330,000 Employees Provident Fund Board
10 Dec 2019 Acquired
8,024,935 Employees Provident Fund Board
10 Dec 2019 Disposed
8,354,935 Employees Provident Fund Board
25 Nov 2019 Acquired
480,000 Employees Provident Fund Board
22 Nov 2019 Acquired
350,000 Employees Provident Fund Board
04 Nov 2019 Acquired
223,600 Employees Provident Fund Board
31 Oct 2019 Acquired
448,700 Employees Provident Fund Board
04 Oct 2019 Acquired
200,000 Employees Provident Fund Board
30 Sep 2019 Acquired
300,000 Dato' Abdel Aziz @ Abdul Aziz Bin Abu Bakar
26 Sep 2019 Acquired
125,000 Dato' Abdel Aziz @ Abdul Aziz Bin Abu Bakar

AirAsia will be more actively traded from now :)


After PLUS, Khazanah now has to decide on Malaysia Airlines
Emir Zainul

The Edge Financial Daily

January 21, 2020 08:28 am +08
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 21, 2020.

KUALA LUMPUR: Just when it is about to close the chapter on the stake sale in PLUS Malaysia Bhd, Khazanah Nasional Bhd has drawn its attention to the ailing national carrier, Malaysia Airlines Bhd in which it injected RM800 million, if not more, last year.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the chairman of Khazanah, told the media yesterday that the government received five proposals for Malaysia Airlines.

“There are about five proposals but of course some of them are just no go. We need to listen to everybody to find out what is the best solution,” the prime minister was quoted by the media as saying in Langkawi yesterday.

When contacted for further detail, Khazanah told theedgemarkets.com that it is still in the midst of identifying the best solution for its wholly owned Malaysia Airlines.

“Khazanah Nasional continues to work closely with the government and Malaysia Airlines in finding the most appropriate solution for the airline to achieve sustainable growth and profitability.

“While there have been several proposals in this regard, a review of the options available to us is still ongoing,” a Khazanah spokesperson told theedgemarkets.com in a query.

Speculations are rife that long haul low cost carrier AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) is among the airlines that have submitted a proposal.

Khazanah’s spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the speculation on the proposed merger of both the loss-making airlines.

I think, this time jadi, madey will show that he is stronger than najib who had made a u-turn on AirAsia-mas deal last time.

To recap, in August 2011, the then-listed Malaysia Airline System Bhd (MAS), AirAsia and AAX entered into a comprehensive collaboration framework.

The agreement involved Khazanah and Tune Air Sdn Bhd entering into a share swap agreement, so there will be cross-holding of shares resulting in Tune Air Sdn Bhd obtaining 20.5% stake in MAS and Khazanah obtaining 10% in AirAsia.

The deal was intended to synergise the two Malaysian-born airlines and reduce competition against each other.

However, it was called off in 2012, amid pressure from MAS workers’ union due to fear of job cuts.

Very likely AirAsia will be chosen. If mas and AirAsia X are profitable, the corporate tax receivable in future will offset whatever coat incurred to sell mas to AirAsia. Also, the govt will stop paying for mas losses yearly.

The offers related to AAX and Japan Airlines are said to be frontrunners in the consideration.

In September last year, The Malaysian Reserve reported, quoting sources, that Khazanah was already pushing for the merger but had strong resistance from the fund’s stakeholders due to the lopsidedness of the deal.

Mas and AirAsia X? :)

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): Khazanah Nasional Bhd says it is still in the midst of identifying the best solution for Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB), neither confirming nor denying speculation that the proposed merger of the national carrier with AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) is back on the cards.

"Khazanah Nasional continues to work closely with the government and Malaysia Airlines in finding the most appropriate solution for the airline to achieve sustainable growth and profitability.

"While there have been several proposals in this regard, a review of the options available to us is still ongoing," a Khazanah spokesperson told theedgemarkets.com in a query.

Besides the marriage with AAX, other proposals that were on the table were from Japan Airlines Co Ltd which proposed a RM1.12 billion injection of funds for a 25% stake, Air France-KLM SA and Malindo Airways Sdn Bhd.

The offers related to AAX and Japan Airlines are said to be frontrunners in the consideration.

In September last year, The Malaysian Reserve reported, quoting sources, that Khazanah was already pushing for the merger but had strong resistance from the fund’s stakeholders due to the lopsidedness of the deal.

The deal was seen as MAB bailing out AAX, which continues to post huge losses.

The report added that the proposal would require the government to inject money to recapitalise Malaysia Airlines and settle all outstanding debts prior to the merger. AAX will then make a bid to acquire or merge with the leaner Malaysia Airlines.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reported today to have acknowledged that Khazanah has received five proposals for MAB. Dr Mahathir is Khazanah's chairman.

In December, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said the proposals received by the sovereign wealth fund were not “attractive” and therefore, the final decision was likely to be made only later this year.

Azmin, who reiterated this today when speaking to reporters, added: "I'm hoping we will be able to conclude the whole exercise as soon as possible, as we want Malaysia Airlines to be on the growth path to reduce Khazanah’s financial burden."

MAB is wholly-owned by Khazanah Nasional, while AAX is owned by AirAsia Group Bhd.

:)

Our top pick for the aviation sector is AirAsia Group Bhd with a “buy” call and a target price of RM2.04. We still like AirAsia as it continues enhancing its cost structure, along with its efforts of rationalising revenue and cost via digitalisation.

Aviation sector
Maintain positive: We opined that Visit Malaysia Year 2020 (VMY2020) would be a major catalyst to passenger traffic growth this year, with RM1.1 billion allocated by the Malaysian government for the tourism ministry including RM960 million to drive awareness and promotion programmes.


Further, the Malaysian government’s initiative for a 15-day visa free travel for tourists from China and India in 2020 will further support the overall passenger traffic growth as these travellers made up more than 20% of passengers in 2019.

In previous Visit Malaysia Years, the international traffic growth was commendable, and the international traffic is likely to get a similar boost from VMY2020 activities. Therefore, we strongly believe Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s passenger numbers for Malaysian operations to reach 110.8 million passengers in 2020, with a growth of 5.4%.

Our top pick for the aviation sector is AirAsia Group Bhd with a “buy” call and a target price of RM2.04. We still like AirAsia as it continues enhancing its cost structure, along with its efforts of rationalising revenue and cost via digitalisation.

Our positive outlook for

AirAsia Group also hinges on its more prudent hedging policy, stable operations with added capacity, and continuous improvements to drive its non-airline ancillary business.

Meanwhile, adopting the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standard 16 will be a headwind in future as most of AirAsia Group’s fleet are leased. Nonetheless, AirAsia Group is expected to gain from a lower interest beyond the fifth year of the lease term.

We opined that passenger growth in Malaysia to remain intact despite the departure levies took effect in September 2019, as the levies gazetted are lower than those of regional peers such as Thailand and Hong Kong. — MIDF Research, Jan 13

:)

Date Close
17/01/2020 1.65
16/01/2020 1.68
15/01/2020 1.66
14/01/2020 1.68
13/01/2020 1.72
10/01/2020 1.71
09/01/2020 1.69
08/01/2020 1.64
07/01/2020 1.66
06/01/2020 1.68
03/01/2020 1.69
02/01/2020 1.69
31/12/2019 1.70
30/12/2019 1.70
27/12/2019 1.71
26/12/2019 1.72
24/12/2019 1.72

Windfall for AirAsia OTW? :)

MAHB: Court fixes 26 Mar to hear MAHB's bid to strike out RM480m AirAsia suit. The application was done to strike out the MYR480m suit filed by AirAsia Group and AirAsia X over alleged loss and damage caused by negligence at klia2 from MAHB. (Source: The Edge Markets)

Expecting bigpay to be worth several times more than even AirAsia :)

Track your spending, get instant notifications and manage your money on the go.

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BigPay is the future of payments and money in Southeast Asia. We have combined the convenience of a mobile app with the flexibility of a prepaid Mastercard® to allow you to save time and money.

- REAL EXCHANGE RATE when paying abroad
- INSTANT MONEY TRANSFERS to your friends
- EASY EXPENSE TRACKING right from the app
- TRAVEL DISCOUNTS on AirAsia.com
- AIRASIA BIG POINTS with daily transactions

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Transferring money is exactly 3 taps away from the home screen. We’ve counted. And your friend receives it instantly, which saves everyone a ton of time.

Savings on AirAsia bookings
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Earn BIG Points everyday
Any transaction with BigPay will earn you BIG points that you can use to redeem flights and perks on airasiabig.com.

Security disclaimer: BigPay is a financial institution regulated by Bank Negara with the latest security protocols including fingerprint and facial recognition to verify your identity. Read our Tips for Security (at www.bigpayme.com and in the BigPay App) to learn how you can safeguard your account details and transactions to prevent you from becoming a victim of fraud.

The AirAsia Group is a multi-national airline group headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Originally founded in 1993, the group now operates a network of low-cost carrier's including AirAsia, AirAsia India, Philippines AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia and Thai AirAsia.

While AirAsia, based at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, is the core airline in the company, AirAsia Group retains significant oversight and equity holdings in the franchises it operates throughout Asia. All member airlines utilize the 'AirAsia' brand, employ identical low-cost business models and operate a single-type fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft. The AirAsia X Group control the brand's long-haul carriers including AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia X and Indonesia AirAsia X.

AirAsia Group members include:

AirAsia (Dec-2001)
Thai AirAsia (Feb-2004)
Indonesia AirAsia (Dec-2005)
Philippines AirAsia (Oct-2011)
AirAsia Zest (May-2013; Ceased operations in Dec-2015)
AirAsia India (Jun-2014)
AirAsia Japan (launched on 29-Oct-2017)
AirAsia Cambodia (unspecified)
AirAsia Sri Lanka (unspecified)
Subsidiaries
Airline IATA ICAO
AirAsia AK AXM
AirAsia Cambodia n/a n/a
AirAsia India I5 IAD
AirAsia Japan DJ WAJ
AirAsia Sri Lanka n/a n/a
Indonesia AirAsia QZ AWQ
Philippines AirAsia Z2 APG
Thai AirAsia FD AIQ

With a reputation as tech company as well as an airline, it is obvious that this Malaysian giant is jumping on the cashless bandwagon in Malaysia.

It seems like airline analysts aren’t seeing the appeal though. Tony Fernandes laments how airline analysts aren’t giving BigPay due attention, even though presentations we done on their digital strategy—with presumable impact laid out.

And Tony has high hopes for the app. He tweeted that, “One day this product will be worth more than @AirAsia . Many features being rolled out. Soon no more cash on AIRASIA. Analysts don’t even know about our digital strategy.”

In another bid to grow cashless in Malaysia, BigPay is tapping into the markets for both e-wallets and a card. This is probably a pretty smart move, as many Malaysians are already used to the idea of paying with cards.

The card might serve as a gateway for users to finally jump into e-wallets.

That being said, if there are more rewards than just airline-related stuff, that might really help BigPay get its clientele.

BigPay is an e-wallet and accompanying prepaid card that Tony Fernandes believes will be worth more than AirAsia.
It will waive the 2% fee charged by overseas ATM withdrawals, waive processing fees by AirAsia, and the card is accepted anywhere a MasterCard is.
Foreign exchange remittances and P2P payments can be done for no cost on BigPay.
AirAsia has been loud and proud about BigPay lately, their upcoming e-wallet and accompanying prepaid card that they hope will take the nation by storm.

Since they were one of the first to do online booking in Malaysia, it will be interesting to observe if they can be the first to finally make e-wallets mainstream here as well.

If you’re curious about the platform though, here are some of the facts about BigPay for you.

1. The e-wallet works hand-in-hand with the prepaid card.
As you may have noticed, this particular e-wallet will have a physical card to go along with it—one of the first of its kind in Malaysia.

If you’re a little confused by this, here’s the low down.

Owning a BigPay card will pretty much be like owning a Mastercard. Even if the location doesn’t accept e-wallet payments, you’ll still be able to spend your money using your BigPay card.

One big difference though is that BigPay is a prepaid card. So you can’t pay for more than the balance in your e-wallet.

If you want to check your previous transactions, top-up your card, cancel or freeze your card, you’ll be using the app instead of loading up a browser to go online.

Ideally, this means that you can more quickly cancel or freeze your card in case you notice any fishiness going on with your transactions. This would also mean that your associated bank accounts remain unaffected even if your card is compromised.

2. It’s different than BigPrepaid—but with some similarities.
The similarities are obvious. They’re both prepaid cards with no interest charges. On both, AirAsia will waive any processing fees if booked through either platform. Both BigPay and BigPrepaid are linked to Mastercard as well, which can be used for both payments and as a loyalty system.

One key difference though is that BigPay is more focused on being used as an e-wallet, with a physical card seemingly as an added bonus to enable more use out of their wallet.

3. Proper e-wallet features are on the way.
For now, the use of the app is linked to the prepaid card. But AirAsia assures that they are working on additional features that will finally push BigPay into a proper e-wallet; QR payments and NFC will soon be incorporated into the BigPay app.

For all of your international transactions, the BigPay app will display your purchases for both your local currency, and the used currency.

4. BigPay doesn’t work on Grab yet.
Unfortunately, due to some complications, users are unable to use their BigPay card on Grab’s system. The two are currently in talks to fix the issue.

5. BigPay is approved by Bank Negara.
Since the company is a rebrand of an existing company under AirAsia, this perhaps made things easier for them. It was formerly known as TPayy Asia Sdn Bhd, which used to be Tune Money—a loyalty programme.

Security features that help protect users’ money include fingerprint scanners and facial recognition to verify a user’s identity. While setting up the platform, the system will also ask you to verify your identity and phone number for an extra layer of security.

6. They support peer-to-peer transactions—for free.


Image Credit: BigPay
For one thing, you can potentially use it to split the restaurant bill among your friends, or pay them back what you owe them.

On the other hand, one of the markets that BigPay aims to tap into is foreign exchange remittances—when you send money across countries.

Since the BigPay app can be used across the globe, this means that two people with a BigPay card could send money to each other back and forth, and AirAsia won’t charge you a dime for it (for now). This is even one of the selling points of BigPay touted by Tony Fernandes himself.

This opens up big possibilities for people who want to send money back home, and might just be a defining feature of the platform, if marketed correctly.

AirAsia has not released an official statement about this, but they might even offer money lending to its user base soon. Whether this means peer-to-peer money lending or platform-to-user money lending will remain to be seen.

7. Your transactions on the card or app collect points that could go towards your next AirAsia flight.


Image Credit: BigPay
As per other e-wallet players here, BigPay will have its own rewards system. Once completed and launched, users would be able to use the points for discounted flights and other AirAsia travel rewards.

The rewards system will be a collaboration between AirAsia and their affiliate, which operates the Big Loyalty Programme. More specifically, these points can eventually be transferred into AirAsia travel rewards. You’ll be able to link your AirAsia BIG member

Strategi AirAsia adalah sangat mudah untuk difahami. Harga tiket penerbangan Yang termurah, e-commerce Dan fintech , 3 Dalam 1 Yang takda dalam malindo Dan mas

Bigpay Ada banyak potensi untuk menjadi fintech Yang berwibawa

Beli Dan simpan sedikit saham AirAsia, tak rugi

Harga saham AirAsia Akan pulih sebelum tahun baru cina pada Hari sabtu ni

AirAsia is still the cost leader in Malaysia, mas Dan malindp tak dapat lawan AirAsia

AirAsia wants to accelerate acquisition of tech skills among staff and youth
Author: Tan KW | Publish date: Fri, 17 Jan 2020, 10:42 PM

“IF YOU want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” seems to be AirAsia’s motto as it moves into the new decade and inches closer to its ambition to morph into a technology giant.

The people’s airline in Malaysia is taking significant steps to ensure that its staff not only understands technology but is also able to leverage it to boost their careers.

Most recently, it partnered with Google to launch the AirAsia Google Cloud Academy and aims to offer courses on digital marketing, software engineering, and tech infrastructure design, among others.

The academy is intended for AirAsia’s staff, known as AllStars internally — but AirAsia Group President Aireen Omar intends to offer courses to help upskill the public as well.

Given the constant discussion about the shortage of programmers, architects, and engineers in the technology market in Southeast Asia, AirAsia’s decision makes perfect sense and might prove to be a boon to not just the company but also its workforce in the coming months.

“More jobs might become redundant in the next three years, so we are giving our employees the opportunities to reskill to suit the digital economy,” Omar told the Nikkei Asian Review.

Although operational details of the new academy haven’t been made public by AirAsia, Google Southeast Asia Regional Director Tim Synan shared that training will be offered primarily through self-paced labs and on-demand courses via Coursera, although classroom training and access to advanced labs with Google Cloud Certifications are also part of the mix.

While this initiative is exciting because of its scale, the reality is that AirAsia has been interested in helping boost technology skills in Malaysia and Southeast Asia for some time now.

In September last year, for example, the company — in collaboration with Google — held a “cloud study jam” at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in Kuala Lumpur.

The session benefitted more than a hundred students who got a chance to acquire hands-on experience with cloud technologies and to fast-track their understanding of machine learning, data science, and other cutting-edge technologies.

Of course, undergraduate and post-graduate students who attended the jam session were also informed of the career opportunities that they would be able to take advantage of if they honed their skills while at UTM.

To be honest, AirAsia’s tryst with technology started more than half a decade ago, as did its efforts to train its staff for new-age technology jobs.

“I think the fourth industrial revolution will change the scene dramatically,” Fernandes said at a panel discussion hosted by EY on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN way back in 2016.

“Provided airports support the change, there will be fewer workers and higher productivity, and I think we are gravitating towards retraining staff for work that is manually done, like check-in and boarding.

“Who knows we might have robots as pilots one day. So we are training our staff for different functions and there is so much talent here, but [there must be] the ability to turn raw diamonds into [polished] diamonds.”

Ultimately, with the launch of the AirAsia Google Cloud Academy, Fernandes seems to be steadfast in his mission to transform the business into a technology company — and take all of his staff with him on the journey. If all goes according to plan, AirAsia could be one of the biggest success stories of the digital era.

16-Jan-2020 Price Target MIDF Research: AirAsia to benefit from Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX suspension delivery
Source : MIDF, Price Call : BUY, Price Target : 2.04

15-Jan-2020 Price Target AirAsia seen as direct Visit Malaysia Year beneficiary
Source : TA, Price Call : BUY, Price Target : 2.01
Last Price : 1.65, Upside/Downside : +0.36(21.82%)

Seem very promising, its bigpay

Its fintech business Big Pay has attracted 700,000 customers in six months. Yesterday [23 September] it launched a remittance product, and will soon introduce a loan service in Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore.

Those services interact with AirAsia.com, he said “because we can do pay-as-you-buy services. We think many banks rip-off their customers and can make remittance services more affordable. Also we don’t charge our travellers a fee for foreign exchange, [instead] giving them the spot rate, so they can save about 5 per cent.”

LIVE FROM MOBILE 360 DIGITAL SOCIETIES, KUALA LUMPUR: Tony Fernandes, co-founder and CEO of AirAsia Group, revealed plans to disrupt the financial sector in the same way he changed travel in ASEAN countries with lower costs and improved access.

“What drives us is inclusivity. We have made ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) a smaller place. That’s really my goal. We want to make fintech services inclusive and allow people to reach a large audience,” he said in a keynote.

While investors were targeting China and India, Fernandes built an airline around the ASEAN countries where he saw a huge opportunity to improve travel connectivity for 700 million people.

He plans to adopt a similar tactic for financial technology with a specific focus on remittance services.

Assessing the business models of start-ups such as Grab and Gojek, which have spent billions of dollars acquiring customers by give aways or heavy discounts, he saw an opportunity to instead tap its customer base of 100 million people who fly AirAsia each year to cross-sell more services.

Strong start
Its online portal has 60 million unique visitors a month, with $6 billion in transactions of which 95 per cent are air tickets.

Its fintech business Big Pay has attracted 700,000 customers in six months. Yesterday [23 September] it launched a remittance product, and will soon introduce a loan service in Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore.

Those services interact with AirAsia.com, he said “because we can do pay-as-you-buy services. We think many banks rip-off their customers and can make remittance services more affordable. Also we don’t charge our travellers a fee for foreign exchange, [instead] giving them the spot rate, so they can save about 5 per cent.”

Asked if he plans to expand its Malaysia-based MVNO Tune Talk, he said “we’d like to be in the region and hopefully can find partners” but didn’t elaborate, joking “I learned today we can rent towers, then we don’t need Axiata any more. I kind of like that concept”.

Fernandes also took a swipe at the local aviation regulator, saying he wished it was regulated by Al-Ishsal Ishak, chairman of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, not Mavcom, which is “360-degree opposite”.

Q4,2019 & Q1,2020, strong results are expected

SEPANG (Jan 7): AirAsia Group Bhd will add special late-night flights at fixed one-way all-in fares between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak from Jan 21 to 31, following feedback from the budget airline's guests for it to have fixed low fares for the upcoming Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan 25 and 26.

In a statement today, AirAsia said in conjunction with the announcement of the extra late-night flights, flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sibu, Bintulu and Miri, as well as the Johor Baru-Sibu route will be priced at RM149.

AirAsia said flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sandakan and Tawau will be priced at RM199.

In addition to the late-night flights at fixed fares to Sabah and Sarawak, AirAsia will also add flights to 20 routes across Malaysia and to Singapore. They include those from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi, Penang, Sibu, Tawau and Singapore, as well as flights from Ipoh to Johor Baru and Singapore.

AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said the additional late-night flights will add 12,960 seats to selected cities in Sabah and Sarawak for the festive period, in addition to the 65,826 extra seats to popular routes across Malaysia and Singapore.

Commentary on prospects
For the airline business, load factors and fares for the rest of 2019 are expected to remain strong in
a seasonally strong period. Our strategy remains to gain dominance in the countries we operate in,
especially within the ASEAN region, and building tourism in lower tier cities. In 2019, we plan for
a net fleet growth of 18 aircraft across our AOCs. We received our first A321neo in November
2019 that will be operated on populous routes and at airports with infrastructure constraints.
Initially, AirAsia will operate the A321neo from our Kuala Lumpur hub to cities across Asia, with
the first destinations including Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Singapore, Bangkok and Shenzhen. With
its operational efficiencies and 50 more seats as compared to the A320neo, the A321neo will help
us meet ongoing strong demand as well as reduce the airlines cost per available seat kilometre.
We continue to work on reducing costs including investment in digitalization which we believe
will help reduce costs in the long run. We have also hedged 86% our fuel requirement for 4Q 2019
at average Brent hedge prices of US$60.72/bbl. For the year forward, we have hedge 73% of the
year 2020 requirement at average Brent hedge prices of USD$60.22.
The Group continues to invest in building digital platforms, in line with its vision to be the leading
travel and financial platform. We are proud to announce in November 2019 that airasia.com has
expanded its online offerings to include flights on other airlines. Powered by Kiwi.com, AirAsia's
website users will be able to book travel on more than 100 airlines to destinations currently not
served by AirAsia, including Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and the Americas.
Teleport, our logistics arm, also took a significant step in disrupting the logistics industry by
launching Teleport.social in September 2019, where Teleport will provide beyond the traditional
B2B air cargo business and facilitate C2C commerce via social media. BigPay, our financial service
provider also passed a milestone by launching its fully digital international remittance service,
enabling customers to instantly Transfer money from their BigPay account directly to bank
accounts in Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. BigPay plans to roll out new
products and services over time, including targeting to get an e-money license in Singapore.
The Board remain positive that the Group’s core performance will be positive in the last quarter of
the year. As the Group reposition the business to adapt to the evolving business environment along
with new accounting treatment and restructured aircraft ownership, we look forward to a better year
in 2020.

2020 or early 2021? :)

On heels of buyout news, AirAsia has huge goals in long overdue IPO
By: Miguel R. Camus - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 04:08 AM October 14, 2019


Budget carrier AirAsia Philippines’ new majority shareholder is targeting a $1-billion (P51 billion) valuation when it goes public by late 2020 or early 2021.

Rep. Michael “Mikee” Romero, whose family controls the budget airline, said operator AirAsia Inc. could sell at least 20 percent and raise $200 million in an initial public offering (IPO).

Romero did not say how much the company was worth although he pointed to its aggressive expansion plans, which included doubling its fleet to 50 aircraft. It currently has 24 Airbus A320s.

He said an IPO would “accelerate the business plans of AirAsia Philippines,” which was targeting to post $1 billion in revenues in two years.

AirAsia Philippines still trails its larger domestic rivals Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific in terms of market share and fleet size.

PAL’s operator, PAL Holdings, has a market value of P95 billion while Cebu Air Inc. is valued at P55.3 billion on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

AirAsia Philippines had floated plans for a public listing as early as 2015. This was delayed due to a mix of factors, including volatile market conditions and losses from operations.

But the company is poised for a financial turnaround this year. Romero said revenues would hit P29 billion, up about 50 percent, while net operating income would amount to P2 billion, reversing a loss in 2018.

AirAsia Philippines chair Joseph Omar Castillo said the final timing of the IPO would depend on an ongoing recapitalization exercise.

“There’s still a number of things to do on the corporate side to prepare this company for an IPO,” he said.

So far, Castillo said AirAsia Philippines was looking to launch its maiden share sale in the third quarter of 2020 or in early 2021.

The Romero family, through privately held F&S Holdings, recently cemented control of AirAsia Inc. This followed the acquisition of the 15.6-percent stake in the carrier from Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco, AirAsia Philippines’ last local partner.

Following that transaction, F&S Holdings now owns about 60 percent of AirAsia Inc. while the rest is held by the AirAsia Group’s Malaysian founders.

Loved by both traders and investors

Actively traded daily. A very liquid stock

:) 1.65 :)


Date Close
16/01/2020 1.68
15/01/2020 1.66
14/01/2020 1.68
13/01/2020 1.72
10/01/2020 1.71
09/01/2020 1.69
08/01/2020 1.64
07/01/2020 1.66
06/01/2020 1.68
03/01/2020 1.69
02/01/2020 1.69
31/12/2019 1.70
30/12/2019 1.70
27/12/2019 1.71
26/12/2019 1.72
24/12/2019 1.72
23/12/2019 1.74
20/12/2019 1.72

Our financial year ended Dec 31, 2019 (FY19) to FY21 earnings projections are unchanged. Our load factor assumptions of 86%, 82% and 86% for MAA, IAA and PAA operations respectively for 2020 are maintained. Given its established network, AirAsia has the operational agility to minimise natural disasters’ impact by deploying its aircraft to other destinations.

AirAsia is a direct beneficiary of Visit Malaysia Year (VMY), where tourist arrivals are expected to rise this year. Moreover, the disposal of Malaysia Airlines Bhd to a foreigner, if it materialises this year, is expected to create a level-playing field in the industry, boding well for AirAsia’s future operations. — TA Securities, Jan 14





https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/airasia-seen-direct-visit-malaysia-year-beneficiary

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 ― MIDF Research has maintained its "buy” call on AirAsia Group Bhd (AAGB) in view of positive outlook as the airline is poised to be the market beneficiary in terms of capacity following Malaysia Airlines Bhd's (MAB) suspension delivery of its 25 Boeing 737 MAX.

The research house has also kept the target price unchanged at RM2.04 per share.

The Boeing 737 MAX is a narrow body jet with a capacity of 160 to 220 passengers.

AAGB’s Malaysian arm, Malaysia AirAsia (MAA) on the other hand is expecting a delivery of three new A321 Neos with 236 seats each, and one A320 neo that has 186 seats, in 2020.

“Therefore, we believe that AAGB’s fleet plan for Malaysia is poised to grab some market share from MAB, increasing its share of circa 60 per cent.

“Moreover, this will stand well with the expected increase in tourism activity in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2020,” the research house said in a note today.

In line with the expectation of AAGB grabbing more market share of MAB, MIDF Research believed that the airline would have a positive impact on passenger traffic in Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2).

“We believe that AAGB will continue to attract more passenger traffic to KLIA2 in 2020,” it said.

Meanwhile, MIDF Research opined that passenger growth in Malaysia to remain intact despite the departure levy which took effect in September 2019 as the levies gazetted were lower than regional peers such as Thailand and Hong Kong.

As for low-cost carriers such as AAGB, the percentage of departure levy from the total ticket price is still immaterial at around 1.6 per cent on average for normal fares, it added.

As at 10.36am, AirAsia was flat at RM1.66 after 428,700 shares changing hands. ― Bernama

Valuation
Looking beyond price competition, which is unsustainable in the long run, we advocate investors to Buy into AirAsia for its market share gain as well as its established networks, which are crucial for future profitability. Target price is reduced to RM2.01/share based on 10x CY20 EPS. Maintain Buy.
Source: TA Research - 28 Nov 2019

AirAsia wins world's best low-cost airline title - New Straits Times
Jun 18, 2019 - PARIS: AirAsia has bagged the World's Best Low-Cost Airline title for the 11th consecutive year at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2019.

epf pegang banyak :)


5099 AIRASIA AIRASIA GROUP BERHAD
Changes in Sub. S-hldr's Int (Section 138 of CA 2016)

Particulars of Shareholder 36

Name : EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND BOARD
NRIC/Passport No./Company No. : EPF ACT 1991
Nationality/Country of Incorporation : Malaysia

Address:
Tingkat 19, Bangunan KWSP Jalan Raja Laut 50350 Kuala Lumpur WilayahPersekutuan Malaysia

Descriptions (Class and Nominal Value):
Ordinary Shares


Name and Address of Registered Holder:
You are advised to read the entire contents of the announcement orattachment.To read the entire contents of the announcement or attachment,pleaseaccess the Bursa website at http://www.bursamalaysia.com


Details of Changes

Date of Notice : 20/12/2019

Transactions:
No. Date Transaction Type No of Shares Price (RM)
1. 19/12/2019 Acquired 330,000 -


Circumstances by reason of which change has occurred:
Acquisition of Shares

Nature of Interest:
Direct Interest

Consideration:



No of Shares Held After Changes:
Direct : 218,422,649 shares (6.5360%)
Indirect/Deemed Interest : 0 shares (0.0000%)
Total : 218,422,649 shares

Remarks:
Direct Interest:-1. Employees Provident Fund Board - 168,384,7142.Employees Provident Fund Board (AMUNDI) - 4,000,0003. Employees Provident FundBoard (RHB INV) - 3,600,0004. Employees Provident Fund Board (AM INV) -2,846,3005. Employees Provident Fund Board (PHEIM) - 2,160,0006. EmployeesProvident Fund Board (CIMB PRI) - 25,541,1007. Employees Provident Fund Board(ARIM) - 2,200,0008. Employees Provident Fund Board (TEMPLETON) - 9,690,535You are advised to read the entire contents of the announcement or attachment.To read the entire contents of the announcement or attachment, please accessthe Bursa website at http://www.bursamalaysia.com


Submitted By:



24/12/2019 07:00 AM

directors juga hanya beli dan tak lari pun. :)

DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 30-Sep-2019 Acquired 300,000 1.770 View Detail
DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 26-Sep-2019 Acquired 125,000 1.790 View Detail
DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 25-Sep-2019 Acquired 25,000 1.790 View Detail
DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 17-Sep-2019 Acquired 250,000 1.774 View Detail
DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 13-Sep-2019 Acquired 110,000 1.800 View Detail
DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 05-Sep-2019 Acquired 50,000 1.780 View Detail
DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 29-Aug-2019 Acquired 100,000 1.740 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 07-Aug-2019 Acquired 20,000 1.800 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 05-Aug-2019 Acquired 30,000 1.820 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 28-Feb-2019 Acquired 20,000 2.840 View Detail
DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 11-Jul-2018 Acquired 11,500 3.031 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 21-May-2018 Acquired 7,400 3.300 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 18-May-2018 Acquired 20,000 3.350 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 18-May-2018 Acquired 10,000 3.300 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 18-May-2018 Acquired 10,000 3.250 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 18-May-2018 Acquired 2,600 3.150 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 17-May-2018 Acquired 10,000 3.480 View Detail
DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 12-Apr-2018 Others 18,000 - View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 12-Apr-2018 Others 120,000 - View Detail
DATUK KAMARUDIN BIN MERANUN 12-Apr-2018 Others 1,077,485,082 - View Detail
MR STUART L DEAN 12-Apr-2018 Others 40,000 - View Detail
TAN SRI (DR.) ANTHONY FRANCIS FERNANDES 12-Apr-2018 Others 1,077,085,082 - View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 07-Mar-2018 Acquired 10,000 3.940 View Detail
DATO' MOHAMED KHADAR BIN MERICAN 07-Mar-2018 Acquired 10,000 3.930 View Detail
DATO' ABDEL AZIZ @ ABDUL AZIZ BIN ABU BAKAR 07-Mar-2018 Acquired 3,000 4.090

good news, banyak juga :)

17-Jan-2020 AirAsia Chinese New Year 2020 | The Boy & The Lion
16-Jan-2020 MIDF Research: AirAsia to benefit from Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX suspension delivery
15-Jan-2020 AirAsia expands Penang hub
15-Jan-2020 AirAsia seen as direct Visit Malaysia Year beneficiary
15-Jan-2020 AirAsia and Google to launch Asia's first 'tech academy'

no worries, EPF is still buying up :) bertenang


EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND BOARD 19-Dec-2019 Acquired 330,000 0.000 View Detail
EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND BOARD 10-Dec-2019 Acquired 8,024,935 0.000 View Detail

all target prices above RM2, what happened now? :)

16/01/2020 1.67 2.04 +0.37 (22.16%) BUY MIDF
15/01/2020 1.68 2.01 +0.33 (19.64%) BUY TA

Cost savings about 30% for HSR suggested by YTL should be acceptable based on the decision on MRT 2.

Major works are expected to be completed in 2022 and MRT2 will become fully operational by 2023," he said at the signing of a supplementary agreement between Mass Rapid Transport Corp Sdn Bhd and MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP SSP) Sdn Bhd today.

Today's supplemental agreement is the conclusion of the rationalisation process launched by the government for the project.

This process has yielded savings of RM8.82 billion or 22.4% from the project's original cost.