Air Asia PH unit plans bigger IPO

Philippines Air Asia, bullish on its business prospects, may raise more funds than originally planned in its upcoming initial public offering this year.

Tony Fernandes, who heads its operator Air Asia Berhad of Malaysia, said in a recent interview that Philippines Air Asia could raise more than the $200 million to $250 million it had projected for its public debut here.

“There’s a lot of discussions happening, profits are getting much better,” Fernandes said at the sidelines of a business forum hosted by the Philippine Competition Commission. He did not provide specific figures.

The IPO, which was pushed back from its target listing in 2017, would happen around the middle of 2018, Fernandes said.

Philippines Air Asia has a domestic market share of about 10 percent. It mainly competes here with larger rivals Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air. AirAsia has a bigger footprint abroad, through its main hub in Kuala Lumpur and regional units in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Japan.

The listing comes at a challenging time for the global commercial aviation sector, where yields are tightening.