Singapore Airlines

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DJ Rolls-Royce Engine Troubles Snare Singapore Airlines Unit
27 Jan 2017 14:37
DJ Rolls-Royce Engine Troubles Snare Singapore Airlines Unit


By Gaurav Raghuvanshi


SINGAPORE--A Singaporean discount airline is the latest carrier to encounter engine problems on Boeing Co. 787 jets, underscoring problems for the aircraft maker and engine supplier Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC.

Scoot Pte., a unit of Singapore Airlines Ltd. that flies medium-haul routes, has had to pull some of its Dreamliners from flying while it carries out additional checks on engines. Scoot didn't specify the exact nature of the engine problem or how many of its dozen jets were affected.

In the meantime, Singapore Airlines will operate a daily return flight to Sydney for Scoot from Feb. 1 to Feb. 13 using a Boeing 777-200 as Scoot faces "tighter than usual" aircraft utilization during the Lunar New Year holiday period, according to a Scoot spokeswoman.

Scoot said it has informed its customers about the change.

"Scoot has an ongoing engine maintenance and check program in place with Rolls-Royce to proactively monitor the condition and technical reliability of our fleet," the company spokeswoman said.

Boeing said it was aware of the engine issues but would refer queries to the airline. Rolls-Royce declined to comment on an "individual customer's operations and engine maintenance programs."

Dreamliners started commercial flights at the end of 2011. The planes have been plagued by problems such as battery fires in 2013.

All Nippon Airways discovered problems with turbine blades in its Dreamliner Rolls-Royce engines last year. ANA said blades in the engines were cracking because of what Rolls-Royce determined was premature corrosion.

Rolls-Royce vies with General Electric Co. (GE) for engine orders on Dreamliner planes.

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UOB Kay Hian sees 36% fall in SIA Q3 net profit, 2-4% rise for SATS
02 Feb 2017 09:00
By Soon Weilun

PASSENGER numbers remain a key indicator that will lift third-quarter net profits for Singapore's groundhandler SATS but weaken earnings at its national carrier Singapore Airlines, says UOB Kay Hian in a Tuesday note.

SIA and SATS will report their Q3 results for financial year 2017 on Feb 7 and 9 respectively.

Forecasting a 2 to 4 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit for SATS but a deep 36 per cent decline for SIA, the broking firm said that it would maintain market weight on the sector.

UOB Kay Hian analysts K Ajith and Sophie Leong said that SATS is expected to see lower topline growth. This is because gateway services revenue numbers in earlier quarters were already strong. Also, Japanese subsidiary TFK will see lower revenue growth.

At the same time, the broking firm assumed higher staff costs - which have been rising for four consecutive quarters. For Q3 FY17, it sees a one per cent increase, which should lower its Q3 FY17 estimate for profit before tax by 3.5 per cent.

But passenger throughput at Changi Airport is up, the report noted. It rose 4.8 per cent year-on- year during the quarter. The airport operator had said that it handled a record 58.7 million passengers for 2016.

Yet the higher numbers passing through Singapore's airport did not necessarily bode well for its national carrier.

UOB Kay Hian noted that passenger loads on SIA's Southwest Pacific and Europe routes had weakened. "Given that traffic on these sectors typically consists of a greater proportion of premium traffic, we reckon premium yields could have weakened," it wrote. This has led the house to pencil in a 3.8 per cent decline in passenger yields, similar to Q2's.

Even though UOB Kay Hian expects lower fuel hedging losses, it still sees more losses from the airline group's subsidiaries. As such, the house expects Q3 net profit to decline 36 per cent.

Beyond the impact a fall in yields may have on net profits, the analysts also stressed that the pace at which yields fall might portend a larger concern of SIA losing its competitiveness.

But there are possible developments that may help lift SIA's outlook. The note said that competition for SIA may be abating as the Middle Eastern airlines - SIA's major competitors on the Europe and premium sectors - start cutting back on capacity growth.

UOB Kay Hian is also looking for narrowing losses from Virgin Australia and Vistara, two of SIA's associated companies that have a big presence in markets that SIA is aiming to strengthen its presence in.

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3Q result out

http://repository.shareinvestor.com/rpt_...filename/1

Operating profit slightly better than 3Q last year. Net profit down mainly due to a write down of the tiger brand and trademark and also the absence of a one off gain from last years sale and leaseback by silkair.

Net cash now ard 1.6bil and investing cashflow still eating alot of their cash due to capital expenditure for new planes i believe(total equity increasing very rapidly qtq). SIA cargo showing drastic improvement. Also fuel cost drastically reduced by another 200mil. In totality, it seems like a decent set of result. In my view, SQ is trying to increase routes and frequency by having more planes to offset the persistent and unavoidable low yield. Which is the correct thing to do. See how it goes.

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Singapore Airlines Jan numbers: http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/opstats-...eID=439247

Scoot's systemwide passenger carriage increased by 37.1% year-on-year. Capacity grew by 38.5% as the
number of aircraft increased from 10 to 12. Consequently, PLF declined by 0.8 percentage points to 84.0%.
During the last 12 months, new routes were added to Japan, China, India and Saudi Arabia.

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In February 2017, SIA Group airlines' passenger carriage (measured in revenue passenger kilometres)
increased by 4.1% compared to last year, outpacing growth in capacity (measured in available seat
kilometres) of 0.9%. Passenger load factor (PLF) rose 2.4 percentage points to 80.7%.

Singapore Airlines' PLF improved 3.2 percentage points to 80.6%. Passenger carriage increased 1.3%
compared to last year, against a 2.8% reduction in capacity. Boosted by promotional activities, PLF improved
for all regions except South West Pacific. PLF for South West Pacific declined as capacity growth outpaced
demand. The competitive landscape remains challenging and promotional efforts will continue in relevant
markets.

SilkAir’s systemwide passenger carriage grew 6.6% year-on-year, trailing capacity growth of 7.9%.
Consequently, PLF declined 0.9 percentage points to 73.1%. Improvement in passenger carriage for West
Asia region exceeded capacity growth, resulting in a 3.5 percentage point increase in PLF, while East Asia
and Pacific region recorded a 2.3 percentage point decline in PLF.
Scoot's systemwide passenger carriage increased by 29.6% year-on-year. Capacity grew by 32.2% as the
number of aircraft increased from 10 to 12. Consequently, PLF declined by 1.7 percentage points to 85.1%,
mainly due to weaker demand arising from the Chinese New Year holiday falling in January this year,
compared with February in 2016.

Tigerair's systemwide passenger carriage increased by 0.4% year-on-year on the back of a 1.3% contraction
in capacity. PLF improved by 1.4 percentage points to 83.0%, mainly due to improvement in South East
Asia, partially offset by West Asia.

Cargo traffic (measured in freight-tonne-kilometres) declined 2.1% year-on year. Cargo capacity contracted
by 5.9% mainly due to reduction in freighter capacity. As a result, cargo load factor increased by 2.4
percentage points, as CLF improved in East Asia, America and Europe.

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BRUSSELS: Singapore Airlines (SIA) together with 10 other airlines were hit with a combined 776 million euro (S$1.2 billion) fine by EU antitrust regulators on Friday (Mar 17) for taking part in an air cargo cartel more than a decade ago.

The European Commission re-imposed the penalties after Europe's second-highest court in 2015 annulled the EU executive's 2010 decision due to a procedural error.

The fines were unchanged for all the airlines except for the amount due from Martinair - cut to 15.4 million euros from the 29.5 million euro amount set in 2010.

Air France was fined 182.9 million euros - the highest - followed by KLM at 127.1 million, British Airways at 104.4 million, Cargolux at 79.9 million and SIA at 74.8 million (S$112 million).

"We will study the European Commission's decision, after which we will consider an appropriate course of action," an SIA spokesperson told Channel NewsAsia.

Other carriers penalised were Air Canada, Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan Airlines, LAN Chile and SAS. Lufthansa, along with subsidiary Swiss International Airlines, escaped a fine as it alerted the cartel to the EU competition authority.

The commission said it had fixed the procedural error cited by the court.

"Working together in a cartel rather than competing to offer better services to customers does not fly with the Commission," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

SAS said it would appeal against the new decision.

In its 2010 finding, the commission said the cartel fixed air freight services, fuel and security surcharges between December 1999 and February 2006.

The decision led to a series of damages claims against the airlines from companies such as Germany's Deutsche Bahn, carmaker BMW and car supplier Bosch. ($1 = 0.9288 euros)

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A nice move up to hit 10.20 today


S'pore, Vietnam agree to discuss liberalisation of bilateral air links
27 Mar 2017 09:00
By Lee U-Wen

THE leaders of Singapore and Vietnam on Thursday agreed that their two countries should explore how to further liberalise their bilateral air services.

"Our flights in both directions are full, and I think if we can have more flights, we will be able to have more connectivity, more economic opportunities, and more investments and trade," said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is in Vietnam for a four-day official visit.

He made the point at a news conference held at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, alongside his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc, whom he had a meeting with earlier after an official welcome ceremony.

"With more intensive business links and with more tourism between both sides, the travel between Singapore and Vietnam has increased substantially," said Mr Lee. The latest figures show that, as at February this year, Singapore and Vietnam carriers operate a total of 142 weekly passenger services between the two South-east Asian countries.

These are to Ho Chi Minh City (101 services), the capital Hanoi (32) and the coastal city of Da Nang (nine).

In 2016, Vietnam received more than 257,000 visitors from Singapore, an 8.7 per cent increase from the year before. In 2015, the number of arrivals to Singapore from Vietnam reached 469,409, which is 12.2 per cent higher than the year before.

In his remarks, Mr Lee stressed that the economic ties between Singapore and Vietnam are strong and there are efforts on both sides to take them forward.

"Singapore is Vietnam's top foreign investor in 2017 so far, and we hope to have more investment projects in Vietnam," he said, pointing to a slew of bilateral agreements signed on Thursday.

These include one involving Keppel Land that will see the company collaborate with Vietnam's State Capital Investment Corporation on new investment opportunities in Vietnam.

Mr Lee also shared that during his closed-door meeting with Mr Phuc, they discussed various regional and security issues, in particular the situation involving the South China Sea territorial disputes.

He said that, as fellow Asean members, there is a shared interest in a "rules-based international order" to resolve issues in accordance with international laws.

This is Mr Lee's first visit to Vietnam since September 2013, when Singapore and Vietnam celebrated 40 years of diplomatic relations and elevated bilateral ties to the level of a strategic partnership.

During Thursday's news conference, Mr Phuc said the general agreement is to "comprehensively promote" the strategic partnership in all areas, and to promote the connectivity of the two economies in trade, investment, transport, education and training.

Overall, Singapore is Vietnam's third-largest foreign investor (after South Korea and Japan), with registered cumulative investments worth nearly US$38 billion in almost 1,800 projects as at the end of 2016.

Mr Lee's packed programme in Hanoi - the second and final leg of his trip - saw him lay wreaths at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Monument Of Heroes And Martyrs.

Apart from his meeting with Mr Phuc, the Singapore leader also met Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Tran Dai Quang and National Assembly President Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

Mr Lee ended his day with a dinner hosted by Mr Phuc at the International Convention Centre.

In a toast speech before the meal, Mr Lee mentioned how his father, the late Lee Kuan Yew, had struck up a close friendship with then-Vietnam prime minister Vo Van Kiet.

"(Mr Lee Kuan Yew) would have been very happy to see this close friendship between our countries and leaders flourishing beyond him, and developing the foundations that he laid," said PM Lee.

Earlier in the day, a Vietnamese translation of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs was officially launched at an event that coincided with the second anniversary of his death.

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The current airliners environment in Asia is somewhat similar to that of the US in 1978 to 2000s. Just a gut feel.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

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http://www.todayonline.com/business/sing...-soon-2018

SIA moved up to 10.36 today

SINGAPORE — A record plane-buying spree is poised to land Singapore Airlines in an unfamiliar territory.

Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier is expected to turn to a net-debt position as early as 2018 — for the first time in 13 years — as the company borrows money and sells bonds to meet capital expenditure needs, analysts say.

Singapore Air, which has traditionally limited its debt load, would benefit from raising funds more cheaply through borrowings to improve return ratios and valuations,equity research firms including OCBC Investment Research and Crucial Perspective say. The airline, which has US$53 billion (S$73.9 billion) of aircraft on order, expanded a medium-term note program by two thirds to US$5 billion in April and said it intends to “proactively” take on more debt in future.

“I think it’s good for shareholders,” said Mr Desmond Soon, Asia head of investment management at Western Asset Management Co. A company that can borrow cheaply can have higher leverage, leading to an improved return on equity and thus better prospects for stockholders, Singapore-based Soon said.

The carrier’s five-year average return on equity — an indication of how efficient a company is at generating profits — is below that of Cathay Pacific Airways, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Singapore Air’s net debt may reach about S$660 million by the end of March 2018, according to a report by Mr Eugene Chua at OCBC Investment Research on Feb. 9. That compares with net cash of about S$3.3 billion for the 12 months through March 2016, Bloomberg-compiled data show.

A net-debt position occurs when a company’s debt exceeds its cash and equivalents.

“Historically there has been lot of criticism Singapore Airlines’ balance sheet is lazy” because of its cash pile, said Ms Corrine Png, chief executive officer of Crucial Perspective, a research firm focused on Asian transport equities. A “more efficient” capital structure will help its return on equity, which has been depressed because of the large cash balance, she said.

Singapore Air has the smallest debt-to-equity ratio among 11 major airlines on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index at 10.3 per cent, compared with 126 per cent for Cathay Pacific, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Capital expenditure at Singapore Air will average US$4.3 billion annually for the five years through March 2022, based on company figures in an investor presentation in November. The spending will peak in the 12 months beginning April 2018, the year Singapore Air intends to restart the world’s longest nonstop flight using an ultralong-range version of Airbus SE’s A350-900.

“Our capital expenditure will be rising as we take advantage of new growth opportunities to better position the SIA Group for the future,” Mr Nick Ionides, a spokesman, said in an email. “These investments will be financed by cash flows generated from operations, as well as by proactively taking on more debt in the coming years.”

Singapore Air has 214 planes on order, including 39 long-range aircraft from Boeing with a list price of US$13.8 billion. Discounts are customary in the industry for large orders.

The Singapore carrier is trading at 3.1 times of enterprise value to trailing 12-month earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rent costs, compared with 8 times for Cathay Pacific, data compiled by Bloomberg show. A lower figure means investors value Singapore Air less than Cathay Pacific.

Singapore Airlines’ cost of equity is 6.2 per cent, while its cost of debt is 2.6 per cent, based on the latest available data compiled by Bloomberg. That debt cost is low among Singapore-based corporations, whose average is about 10 percentage points higher, making it “prudent” for Singapore Air to acquire more debt, said Mr Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, a director at Religare Capital Markets in the city-state.

“Debt is cheaper than equity,” Mr Joshua Crabb, head of Asian equities at a unit of Old Mutual, said from Hong Kong. Therefore “optimal gearing structures can add value”, benefiting shareholders, he said. BLOOMBERG


Hmm aggressively taking up cheap debt to increase ROE. Could be good news, see how it goes.

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A nice close at 10.70

http://sbr.com.sg/aviation/news/sias-net...ed-soar-25

SIA's net profit expected to soar 25%
On the back of higher passenger loads and improving cargo profitability.

Singapore’s flag-carrier might reflect a 25% growth in net profit for 4Q17, analysts say.

According to UOB KayHian, the rise in net profit to $150.6m may be brought about by the higher pax loads and improving cargo profitability.

"Potential earnings surprises could come from a further write-down on the TigerAir brand or higher pax yields," it said.

More so, the brokerage firm noted that SIA might be boosted by marginal fuel hedging.

It added, "At the non-operating level, we have imputed 112m in provisions for cargo fines, which SIA has announced, and a further $31m in impairment of TigerAir brand."