China Southern Airlines
Liu Shaoyong, the chairman of China Southern Airlines said the outlook for the carrier is bleak, following a difficult first half of 2008.
He said that airlines are ‘generally saddled with three major burdens, including insufficient market demand, fierce competition and high oil prices. . . . As such, the group expects to undergo a long period of hardship.’
This year China Southern’s shares have fallen 81% making it the worst performing company in the Shanghai CSI 300 Index.
Luckily, the renminbi appreciated against the US dollar in the first half of 2008 by 6.6% – delivering the carrier a $384 million foreign currency gain.
Source: eTravel Blackboard