As of 10.57 am, the national carrier’s shares edged up half a sen to 25.5 sen, with 21.81 million shares transacted.
Khazanah Nasional’s long-awaited restructuring plan for MAS, comprises a 12-point measures to return it to profitability by 2017.
Aspects of the plan includes creating a new company to house MAS’ operations by July 2015 and funding of up to RM6 billion for the restructuring exercise.
The measures will also facilitate the relisting of the troubled airline by 2020.
The listing plan could include a full or partial selldown of Khazanah’s stake in the airline to appropriate strategic investors, said AllianceDBS Research in a note today.
“We expect the current aggressive promotional fares offered by MAS to end soon, as the 12-point plan requires MAS to have a renewed emphasis on yield management,” it added.
As the current yield compression is mainly caused by MAS’ discounted fares, the research firm expects the new strategy to lift industry yields to more sustainable levels going forward.
“We believe MAS will maintain its status as a full service carrier that offers seats with premium frills as it plans to remain a member of the Oneworld alliance,” it added.
AllianceDBS also does not expect AirAsia’s regional short-haul operations to be affected by the MAS’ plan to transform into a regional airline.
Pieced together with its renewed focus on managing revenue yield, MAS will likely charge higher fares for its Flagship Check-In products going forward.
— BERNAMA
