With its bookings surging and unfilled demand to be met, AirAsia X is looking to raise around $10.8 million (RM50 Million) of new capital. The airline said it needs the cash injection to bolster its short-term working capital requirements, including returning parked aircraft to service.
Need cash to get the fleet fully operational
Yesterday, AirAsia X Berhad announced it intends to enter into a proposed placement of shares with two institutional investors, one a local investor, to potentially raise up to RM50 million ($10.8 million). It said that the proposed placement would be a timely and strategic means for the company to raise funds which will primarily be used for the reactivation and maintenance of the Company’s fleet.
This would be the Company’s first equity raising since 2015 as AirAsia X (AAX) develops its operational and financial performance in line with its PN17 regularisation plan. During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic the airline, along with other parts of the AirAsia Group, implemented measures to address its financial distress.
These measures include debt restructuring and cost-containment exercises, which are now paying dividends, with the airline turning around from loss-making to two consecutive quarters of profit in the periods ending September 30th, 2022 and December 31st, 2022. AAX describes the share placement as “an interim fundraising measure to bolster its short-term working capital requirements as the Company continues to recover and grow its operations in the post-pandemic era.”