Lion Air, Indonesia’s biggest carrier by passenger volume, has ambitious plans for expansion as the archipelago nation expands its poorly served air corridors, and has placed a record provisional order for more than 200 Boeing jets.
“We can’t do it this year because the situation with the financial crisis is not so good,” CEO Rusdi Kirana said in an interview on the eve of the Singapore Airshow.
He said Lion Air had a market share of 51 per cent in the world’s fourth most populous nation and that he and his co-founder brother aimed to go public when this figure reached 60 per cent, something he estimated would happen “in the next two years”.
Shares in PT Garuda Indonesia plunged 17 per cent on their trading debut on Friday as buyers took fright at what they deemed a high valuation, a sign that investors have turned cautious on Indonesia’s previously buoyant markets.
Investors have sold Indonesian stocks this year on worries over inflation and to take profits on a 46 per cent rally last year. Longer-term sentiment is said to remain positive as Southeast Asia’s biggest economy grows strongly and hopes to get an investment-grade sovereign credit rating in the next year. – Reuters
