PAL Holdings to consolidate airline business

PAL Holdings, Inc. (PHI) on Tuesday announced it will acquire shares from a holding firm that owns Air Philippines Corp. (APC), a move that will consolidate the airline business of taipan Lucio C. Tan.

The listed operator of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday that its board of directors on Nov. 28 approved the acquisition through a share swap transaction of Zuma Holdings and Management Corporation (Zuma) shares from its existing shareholders.

The board also approved the share swap exchange ratio of 19 PAL Holdings shares to one Zuma share.

Sought for more details, PAL said in an e-mail that Zuma owns 99.97% of APC or Airphil Express.

“Upon approval by the regulators of the contemplated transaction, PHI will indirectly own APC or Airphil Express through Zuma as one of its subsidiaries,” the company said, adding that its other direct subsidiary is PAL.

“The transaction will rationalize and consolidate the airline business of the Lucio Tan Group under PHI,” it added.

PAL Holdings saw a net loss of P2.009 billion in the quarter ending September from a P251.257-million income during the comparable period in 2015, its quarterly report showed, which the Company President and Chief Operating Officer Jaime J. Bautista attributed to stiff competition and the “lean season” for the airline industry.

PAL, nonetheless, still posted a profit in the nine-month period, recording a P2.599-billion net income in first nine months of 2016. The airline still expects to end the year with higher revenues.

As of Dec. 31, 2015, PAL’s international route network covered 38 cities in 16 countries.

Shares in the company closed at P4.90 down 10 centavos or 2% from its previous close of P5 apiece. —