Reporter : Sino-Singapore Jingwei Zhang Yanzheng
Recently, Lucky Air issued an announcement stating that the company had received the (2021) Qiong Po Shen No. 13 Civil Service from the Hainan Provincial Higher People’s Court Ruling" and (2021) Qiong Po Shen No. 13 "Decision". The Hainan Provincial Higher People’s Court believes that Lucky Air’s serious shortage of funds, difficulties in realizing property, inability to pay off due debts and apparent lack of solvency, meets the conditions for acceptance of reorganization, and designated the HNA Group’s liquidation team as the administrator to specifically carry out various reorganizations jobs.
It is reported that new investors may be introduced and the local government of Yunnan may rebuild "Yunnan Airlines." There is also news that China Eastern Airlines, the “boss” of China Eastern Yunnan Airlines, intends to take over Lucky Air, in order to continue to consolidate China Eastern’s dominant position in Yunnan.
Lucky Air and HNA have close connected transactions
According to the national corporate credit information publicity system, Lucky Air was established in June 2004 with a registered capital of 3.496 billion RMB. It was established with the approval of the Civil Aviation Administration of China to operate domestic (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) and international air passenger and cargo transportation services. Its predecessor was Yunnan Shilin Airlines Co., Ltd., jointly funded by Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd., Shanxi Airlines Co., Ltd. and Yunnan Shilin Air Travel Service Co., Ltd.
On 26 February 2006, Lucky Air officially launched. Today, the company's operating bases are located in Kunming, Lijiang, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, Chengdu, Mianyang, and Zhengzhou, Henan.
On 29 January, HNA Group issued a statement stating that the group was ruled by the court for bankruptcy and reorganization. On the third day, Lucky Air also issued an announcement stating that the creditor Kunming Fei'an Aviation Training Co., Ltd. applied to the court for reorganization on the grounds that it was unable to repay the due debts and was obviously lack of solvency.
In fact, Lucky Air has close related transactions with HNA Group and its subsidiaries. According to the data, as of the end of 2019, Lucky Air’s book currency funds of 388 million RMB were deposited with HNA Group Finance Co., Ltd., 722 million RMB due from related parties, 601 million yuan prepaid to related parties, and 851 million yuan due to related parties. Lucky Air provided a guarantee amount of 7.683 billion yuan to related parties, of which 2.452 billion yuan was pledged and 5.231 billion yuan was pledged.
Regarding the court’s ruling on bankruptcy and reorganization, Lucky Air responded in an announcement on 18 February that the company will actively carry out bankruptcy and reorganization work and fulfill the debtor’s statutory obligations in accordance with the law. If the company successfully implements the reorganization and completes the implementation of the reorganization, the overall plan will help solve liquidity problems, optimize the structure of assets and liabilities, resolve debt risks, and enhance the company's ability to continue operations and profitability.
However, Lucky Air also stated that because the reorganization process will take a while, there is uncertainty about whether the company will succeed in the reorganization, and there is a risk of being declared bankrupt by the court due to the failure of the reorganization.
Civil aviation expert Li Xiaojin said in an interview with the Sino-Singapore Jingwei Client that the bankruptcy and reorganization of HNA airlines, including Lucky Air, is the best plan reached by all parties and is worth looking forward to.
Li Xiaojin believes that if the reorganization is successful, the interests of creditors can be protected to the greatest extent, HNA companies can continue to operate and are expected to develop, consumers can continue to have more choices, and local governments can use aviation to drive regional economic and social development. If the reorganization fails, the court will repay the debt through a judicial auction. "Lucky Air's brand still has a high market value. If the reorganization fails, the brand is expected to continue to be retained."
"From the current point of view, the overall creditor's rights and debts of the HNA department should have no direct impact on Lucky Air. HNA mainly provides Lucky Air coordinated support from the operational aspect, striving to maximize and optimize the interests of all parties." Li Xiaojin said.
Who will take over?
Obviously, Lucky Air and China Eastern Airlines, both airlines, are in a competitive relationship. Statistics show that Lucky Air's fleet size and market share are second only to China Eastern Yunnan Airlines. Lucky Air’s official website disclosed that as of June 2020, Lucky Air’s fleet has reached 55 aircraft, with 98 flight routes (including 96 domestic routes and 2 international routes), and 73 navigable cities (including 71 domestic cities). , 2 international cities), involving 30 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, 2 countries (including China) and regions, the second largest aviation base in Yunnan Province.
From the perspective of equity relationship, the local government of Yunnan is a shareholder of Lucky Air. According to data from Tianyancha APP, Lucky Air currently has 3 shareholders. Hainan Airlines Holding Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as HNA Holdings) is its controlling majority shareholder, holding 70.19%; Yunnan Pengxia Yuanhao Investment Partnership holds 16.49 % Of shares; Yunnan Transportation Investment and Construction Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yunnan Trading) holds 13.32% of the shares. It should be pointed out that the above-mentioned Yunnan Trading is an investment platform controlled by the local government of Yunnan.
It is worth mentioning that Lucky Air's profitability has continued to decline in recent years. Financial data show that from 2017 to September 2020, Lucky Air's net profit attributable to the parent company was 242 million yuan, 158 million yuan, 127 million yuan, and 1.228 billion yuan, down 47.17%, 34.74%, 180.27% and 439.86%. The latest financial data shows that as of the end of the third quarter of 2020, Lucky Air's total operating income was 2.857 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 52.85%; net profit loss was 1.228 billion yuan. At the end of the reporting period, Lucky Air’s assets totaled 15.325 billion yuan and total liabilities were 8.012 billion yuan.
China Eastern Airlines' 2020 annual report forecast disclosed that in 2020, the company will achieve total revenue of 64.237 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 46.85%; net profit loss of 10.754 billion yuan. According to the third quarter report of China Eastern Airlines for 2020, at the end of the reporting period, China Eastern Airlines’ assets totaled 283.558 billion yuan and liabilities totaled 223.741 billion yuan, up 6.73% year-on-year.
Senior civil aviation expert Qi Qi pointed out that in recent years, there have been rumours about Lucky Air’s funders. However, the possibility of China Eastern Airlines taking over Lucky Air is not very great. First, China Eastern Airlines has a high share of the aviation market in Yunnan; second, in the context of the current epidemic, China Eastern Airlines’ own operating conditions and actual operating capabilities are not so good. "If you spend money to expand the fleet blindly, I feel that business logic may not work."
In Qi Qi's view, the local government in Yunnan may be more willing to take over Lucky Air. "As airlines have scarce resources such as passenger licenses and can contribute to the local economy, it will be easier to attract local governments to invest in the deployment of aviation assets. In addition, from the perspective of company qualifications, routes, and capacity, Lucky Air is even better than the bankrupt Longjiang Airlines."
Regarding the possibility of Lucky Air's restructuring this year, Qi Qi believes that it still needs to wait and see. "After the HNA working group entered the station two years ago, Lucky Air has been in contact with the liquidation team. Why did it announce that it has reached the step of bankruptcy and reorganization this year? The main reason is that it has not negotiated with the creditors. Is there any suitable capital to take over this year? It's something that can't be met."
Li Xiaojin also said that for the local government in Yunnan, Lucky Air could promote the development of local tourism and commerce.
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