Start-up Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) earlier this month had a fresh capital injection of NT$4 billion (US$136.94 million) at the request of the country’s top aviation regulator, after the airline reported a net loss of NT$3.01 billion for the whole of last year.
Ninety percent of the NT$4 billion came from Starlux chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) and the other 10 percent from other major shareholders and StarLux employees, the airline said in a statement yesterday.
Starlux said it would continue to review whether more capital is needed.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The injection brought the airline’s paid-in capital to NT$15.36 billion, company data showed.
Starlux, which was established in 2018 and offered its first flight in January 2020, has had a bumpy ride because of the COVID-19 pandemic — it reported an aggregate net loss of NT$5.4 billion over the past two years, the largest loss among local airlines, data released by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) showed.
Late last year, the CAA required the airline to increase its capital because its accumulated losses totaled NT$6.93 billion, more than half of its paid-in capital of NT$11.36 billion.
Unlike other airlines that have shifted to air cargo to offset the loss in passenger revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, Starlux’s cargo capacity is limited, as it only operated six single-aisle Airbus A321neo planes last year, company data showed.
However, the airline said it still tried to increase its revenue by shifting its flights to destinations with stable passenger demand, as well as cities that are hubs for cargo operations, it said.
Starlux’s revenue last year totaled NT$795 million, doubling from a year earlier and ranking fifth in Taiwan, after China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空), EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), Uni Airways Co (立榮航空) and Mandarin Airlines (華信航空), CAA data showed.
Starlux’s growth in revenue is the highest among local airlines, followed by CAL’s 24 percent rise and EVA Airways’ 20 percent increase, the CAA data showed.
However, Starlux’s net assets per share last year stood at NT$3.96, the lowest among local airlines, while its debt ratio was 82 percent, the second-biggest after Daily Air Corp’s (德安航空) 87 percent, the data showed.
The airline said it plans to receive more A321neo jets and A330neo planes this year to expand its capacity on the expectation that air travel would recover as countries ease their border controls.
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS