[cwoodward]

Cathay is again flying over 400 times a week to China.
Again to 18 cities compared to the 22 of Dragon Air back in 2019.

Of course going back perhaps 20 years Cathay used promote that there crew came from 7 different Asian countries, It was pressure of an all out strike from the HK based CC union as I recall that forced the airline to stop this practice. Rather a pity as the crews then were excellent. They are good overall now but not as good in my opinion.

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tomyam42

[AndrewinHK]

Quite telling that SQ is now worth 3 times that of CX with a market value of $17 billion up some 40% so far this year (CX stock is -9.3% ytd). One of the problems CX has is that by the time it is fully back to capacity it’s likely the global revenge travel boom will have faded, and no matter how you spin it they have lost a great deal of revenue to rivals. CX have been dealt a tough hand, the governments restrictions stymied them, and don’t forget they still owe $19.5 billion HKD to the government, which will weigh them down for a while, share holders might need to be patient. CX’s saving grace was China traffic, but China’s economic growth has slowed from 8% annualised to closer to 5% (still great by global standards), its population is now declining, so it might not always be the golden chalice.

[cwoodward]

I don’t exactly understand your point AHK but it would be very apparent to most here that (Cathay who suffered the longest lockdown of almost any airline) shares would still be depressed.

I am equally sure that the Singapore Government would be delighted at the value of the airline that the Singapore government owns even though it its recovery has been slow and still flying only about 90% of its network.

As I am certain will be the Hong Kong government at the dynamic recovery of the privately owned Cathay Pacific that they supported through the incredibly long lockdown

Loans weighing down the airline long term I think not-
The major government loan offer to Cathay was never drawn down and has now expired.
The interest on the smaller loan has already been paid in full and the airline has already announced that the principal of this loan will be fully repaid, if I recall correctly next month but certainly this year.

Not bad going for an airline that has only been able to operate for 6 months and still only able to fly a little over 50% of its schedule.

As regards China traffic ,many millions want to visit Hong Kong but they need a visa and these a rationed only to prevent HK from being swamped.
I notice that Cathay announced that it is now flying 10 pairs to Shanghai daily – the future of China travel looks very bright indeed although it only forms a fifth of Cathay’s normal worldwide operation.

[AndrewinHK]

My point was to demonstrate that the stock market at least has doubts about CX versus other carriers and it’s interesting as you often cite SQ as an example. The loan owed to the government is according to Bloomberg $19.5 billion HKD. I’m just stating facts not opinions. Cwoodward you should consider being a spin doctor or heading up the marketing team for CX, you’d do them proud.

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HKFlyer

[cwoodward]

Thank you for the complement AHK I must as for a pay rise!

I have no idea what Bloomberg have said or when they quoted the figure that you mention – possible some time ago.
What is fact however is that the loan that I believe that you cited has expired and was never drawn down.
Cathay has already told the HK exchange (I would not know if they informed the web site that you mention) that the outstanding loan to the HK government will be cleared prior year end and that all outstanding interest has already been paid.

Its good also to see Cathay share price recovering nicely recently and back close to its mid 2018 price.

BTW Do you know how much Singapore airlines owes the Singapore government perchance ?
Very possibly its rather a lot. Just for context it is perhaps interesting if you are making a comparison.

[AndrewinHK]

The Bloomberg piece is from today.

[cwoodward]

So I would have expected them to write the full story not a tabloid piece.

[HKFlyer]

You’re saying Bloomberg is completely off off on the facts and an anonymous commenter has all the facts. I would expect Bloomberg to amend their piece if they got everything so wrong. No doubt Cathay would have written to them already.

[cwoodward]

Not at all HKF
That which I have mentioned is correct re the Cathay loan situation.
I have not the ability to read that which Bloomberg is reporting but of course they are an American organisation thus I rather expect that they will have little positive to say re HK or Cathay Pacific if recent reporting by American based organisations is repeated.

I take it that you have nothing to add re S’pore airlines ultra soft loan situation.

[tomyam42]

Now girls, let’s get the story correct. A loan of HKD 7.8 Billion was offered by the Government but never drawn. Cathay did issue HKD 19.5 Billion Preference shares, presumably redeemable, to the HK Government. Cathay announced that the dividends on the Preference Shares including all those deferred will be paid on 30 June, 2023 and that in future dividends will be paid when they come due. Further the Preference Shares will be redeemed in due course.

Now we can worry about people going slow or not.

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cwoodward, Johnnyg

[cwoodward]

Correct- However my understanding tomyam42 was that the shares would be redeemed by end 2023 thus releasing Cathay from the need to have 2 government appointed non-exe directors ?

Rather a better and faster performance than Singapore airlines it seems who were bailed out by its owners the Sing’ government with the biggest loan ever made to an airline and seem to still owe the government owned Temasek the bulk of the loans I understand.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – State investor Temasek Holdings put together a funding package of up to S$19 billion (US$13.27 billion) for Singapore Airlines (SIA) SIAL.SI in the single biggest rescue for an airline slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The S$5.3 billion equity and up to S$9.7 billion convertible note portions of the Singapore Airlines fundraising are being underwritten by government owned Temasek, which owns about 55% of the airline.

[Author]

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