Pakistan Airlines Extends Gain to 600% on Privatization Progress
21 March 2024
Published in: Bloomberg
Shares of Pakistan Intl Airlines rallied to a record as the govt’s bid to sell the state-owned carrier made progress. The stock jumped 7.5% on Thu, taking its adv since Aug last yr when the govt decided to privatize the loss-making airline to about 607%. The latest catalyst came as the cabinet approved a plan to turn the carrier into a holding coy to speed up its privatization. Past attempts to sell the stake had failed due to pol oppn and protests by the labor union. The carrier scaled back ops amid deteriorating fin conditions. “This time serious progress seems to have been made for its privatization,” said Qasim Shah, head of intl sales at Kci-based brokerage JS Global Capital. PM Shehbaz Sharif asked to expedite the sale of the airline at a cabinet meeting on Wed. Last month, Pakistan approved a restructuring plan that would divert core ops of the airline into one coy and its debt into another. A consortium led by Ernst & Young was hired in Nov for the stake sale.
