Malaysia

Malaysian state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) said late on Tuesday it had approved an additional 10 billion ringgit ($2.40 billion) dividend to the government to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. Earlier this week, the country’s economic minister had said Petronas would pay the government, its sole shareholder, 34 billion ringgit in dividends this year. The firm, which suffered its first loss in nearly five years during the second quarter, had initially pledged to pay 24 billion ringgit and said any additional funding would depend on its affordability.

AIRASIA X Bhd’s (AAX) plan to restructure RM63.49 billion worth of debt owed to its creditors has already hit a few hurdles, the Edge reported. The Edge has learnt that BOC Aviation Ltd — one of the 1,200 unsecured creditors that are being asked to write down their dues by AAX — has applied to intervene in the long-haul, low-cost carrier’s application for leave to hold a scheme creditors’ meeting to vote on the scheme.

Malaysia's AirAsia X Bhd plans to revise its $15.3 billion debt restructuring plan to address concerns raised by a creditor as its cash is running out fast, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, Reuters reported. The budget carrier is seeking to reconstitute the $15.3 billion of unsecured debt into a principal amount of 200 million ringgit ($48 million) and have the rest waived.

AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) said BOC Aviation Ltd has applied to intervene in the airline's application to the High Court in respect of its proposed RM63.49 billion debt restructuring scheme, confirming a report by The Edge. In a filing with the bourse, AAX said it is making the clarification in reference to an article by The Edge dated Oct 26 entitled "More hurdles loom over AirAsia X's debt restructuring plan,” The Edge reported.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) says its filing of a RM78mil lawsuit against AirAsia X (AAX) will not derail the latter’s debt restructuring scheme. “Malaysia Airports is pursuing its legal rights to recover the debt from AAX which is critical for the upkeep and maintenance of the airports, ” it said, The Star reported.

Bad news for AirAsia X customers as they cannot claim any refunds or credits from the airline as it undergoes a restructuring process after being hit hard by the pandemic, The Rakyat Post reported. According to the AirAsia X support site, the airline has submitted an application for a debt restructuring to the High Court of Kuala Lumpur and customers have been listed as scheme creditors as part of that process. Additionally, credit account applications, flight changes and Unlimited Pass holders are also affected.

Long-haul, low-cost carrier AirAsia X Bhd has run out of money and needs to raise up to 500 million ringgit ($120.60 million) to restart the airline, deputy chairman Lim Kian Onn said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday, Reuters reported. The Malaysian airline, the long-haul arm of AirAsia Group Bhd, said this month it wanted to restructure 63.5 billion ringgit ($15.32 billion) of debt and slash its share capital by 90% to continue as a going concern. “We have run out of money,” Lim told The Star newspaper.

AirAsia X Bhd (AAX), now at an existential crossroads, is in dire need of massive debt forgiveness from its creditors, or be prepared to shut its business down for good, AviationPros.com reported. The low-cost, medium-haul airline, which has grounded all its flights due to the Covid-19 outbreak, is asking creditors and suppliers to forgo over RM63bil in liability and instead accept a maximum RM200mil in payment. While the proposal may sound atrocious, analysts think many creditors would, in fact, accept the offer.

AirAsia X has proposed to its creditors to restructure MYR63.5 billion ringgits (USD15.3 billion) of liabilities through a reconstitution into an acknowledgement of indebtedness for a principal amount of up to MYR200 million (USD48.2 million), ch-aviation reported. The Malaysian long-haul low-cost carrier proposed in a stock market filing that any outstanding amounts above the reconstituted value and all sums, such as interest, incurred after June 30, 2020, be waived.

Malaysia Airlines is struggling to make payments owed to creditors and lessors amid the coronavirus pandemic that has forced it to slash its operations, Reuters reported. The national airline, which restructured after two deadly crashes in 2014, has a new plan involving big discounts from creditors, but unlike last time the cash-strapped government is unwilling to bail it out. The airline has been loss-making for about a decade. Losses were aggravated by two tragedies in 2014 - the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 and the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine.