KUALA LUMPUR: Low-cost carrier AirAsia Group Bhd is seeking an extension until Dec 31 this year to undertake a private placement involving up to 668.39 million shares.

       In a statement to Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, it said it had submitted the application for an extension of time from Aug 2 to implement the corporate exercise.

       The low-cost carrier had on Jan 21, announced the private placement representing up to 20% of the existing shares of 3.34 billion shares as at Jan 18.

       Based on the indicative issue price of 68 sen, it was expected to raise gross proceeds of up to RM454.51mil.

       However, the share price has seen much volatility since then but it had remained above the 68 sen level. During the period, the company had also announced corporate exercises.

       Its share price had rallied to a high of RM1.27 on March 15, slumping to a low of 80 sen on May 21, then rising to 99.5 sen on June 16 and then trading at 82 sen on Wednesday.

       AirAsia21shareprice July21

       Of the RM454.51mil, it had planned to use RM146.62mil for fuel hedging withing six to 12 months; RM95.18mil for aircraft lease & maintenance payments.

       A total of RM76.96mil would be utilised by AirAsia Digital Sdn Bhd’s digital business units comprising airasia.com and BigPay. It had also allocated RM135.57mil for general working capital expenses.

       AirAsia Group had then said the proposed private placement was in response to a series of unexpected events outside the group’s control, primarily attributed to the outbreak of the global Covid-19 pandemic which has created significant challenges for the airline industry.

       It also said travel restrictions imposed by various governments have led to significantly reduced inbound and outbound passenger traffic for the group and uncertainty over the group’s future prospects and operations.

       At 3.34pm, its share price was trading at 82 sen.