China Eastern Airlines (中國東方航空) said yesterday it had received a government injection of 2 billion yuan (US$290 million) to overcome difficulties amid the financial crisis.
The money will reduce the financial strain faced by China’s third-largest carrier, Liu Jiangbo (劉江波), a vice president of the parent company China Eastern Air Holding Co, said in a statement.
“China Eastern has recently received an injection of 2 billion yuan from the state,” Liu said.
PHOTO: AFP
“Operations have maintained good momentum due to various reform measures and have improved from late last year,” he said.
The latest capital injection brings the total amount of government aid awarded to the airline in the past six months to 9 billion yuan.
China Eastern suffered a net loss of 15.3 billion yuan last year because of falling passenger numbers, rising fuel costs and bad bets on fuel hedging contracts.
China Eastern said last week it was selling two Airbus A340 jets for 590 million yuan to improve its cash flow.
The Shanghai-based airline said in a statement its net profit for the first three months of the year totaled 40.1 million yuan, down 81 percent from 210.8 million a year earlier.
The carrier said revaluation gains of 422.0 million yuan in its fuel hedging contracts for the first quarter on higher international oil prices help offset losses from weak travel demand.
China Eastern and its bigger rivals, China Southern Airlines (中國南方航空公司) and Air China (中國國際航空), met strong headwinds last year as a slew of natural disasters and a slowing economy hit air travel.
Passenger demand has recovered thanks to Beijing’s aggressive efforts to prop up economic growth, with volumes up 14.6 percent in the first quarter, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
But analysts said improved passenger numbers and the latest cash injection were unlikely to improve China Eastern’s overall financial position given its massive debt, which exceeded its total assets by ten billion yuan at the end of March.
“It will lower its financial [debt-related] expenses but the impact is likely to be minimal for such a big company,” said Huang Jinxiang, a Beijing-based analyst with Guosen Securities.
“Even if it managed to be profitable this year, it would be insufficient to lower its debt ratio significantly,” he said.
The outlook for China Eastern and the whole aviation industry this year is now highly dependent on severity of the A(H1N1) flu epidemic, which would weakened air travel, Huang said.
“They would have swung back into profit had it not been for the flu fears,” he said.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COVETED PRIZE: The US president would be a peace prize laureate should he persuade Xi Jinping to abandon military aggression against Taiwan, William Lai said US President Donald Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize should he be able to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to abandon the use of force against Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) told a conservative US radio show and podcast in an interview. The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer, despite the absence of formal ties, but since Trump took office earlier this year he has not announced any new arms sales to the nation. Trump could meet Xi at the APEC summit in South Korea on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Lai, speaking on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton
A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would severely threaten the national security of the US, Japan, the Philippines and other nations, while global economic losses could reach US$10 trillion, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs. “The future of Taiwan is not merely a regional concern; it is a test of whether the international order can withstand the pressure of authoritarian expansionism,” Lin wrote in the article titled “Taiwan’s Plan for Peace Through Strength — How Investments in Resilience Can Deter Beijing.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) intent to take Taiwan by force
RSS