AIRASIA Bhd, Southeast Asia’s largest low cost airline, may be considering a RM500 million (US$143 million) rights offer to raise funds to pay for new aircraft, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd said in a report today.Any rights issue isn’t imminent, CIMB said. AirAsia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes declined to comment on the report.
The shares of AirAsia rose on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange after first-quarter profit jumped 26 per cent.The stock added as much as 4 per cent, before trading up 3.2 per cent at RM1.29 at 9:04 am local time.
Profit at the Sepang, Malaysia-based airline climbed 26 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier to RM203.2 million (US$58 million), the company said late yesterday. - Bloomberg