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China Eastern may apply for 10b yuan injection

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-12-19 18:40

China Eastern Airlines may apply for another 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion)capital injection from the central government, according to recent media reports.

The Shanghai-based carrier is discussing the reinjection details internally after the appointment of its new board director Liu Shaoyong last Friday, who formerly served as the chairman of China Southern Airlines, an anonymous source close to the top management was quoted by Securities Times as saying.

Related readings:  Chinese airlines in management reshuffle  Airlines fueled by capital injection  Shanghai Air soars on bailout reports  Chinese airlines face downturn

Luo Zhuping, the company's board secretary, didn't deny the rumor, but said "I have no idea about it so far."

On Dec 10, the country's third largest carrier received a 3-billion-yuan cash injection from the government to help cushion any further slides after the company posted a third-quarter loss of 2.33 billion yuan.

Analysts said the rumor could be true as the company may require capital assistance for its likely takeover of Shanghai Airlines.

"The reinjection sounds rational. The latest relocation of its top executives indicates that the authorities may urge the company to acquire its rival Shanghai Airlines, and the additional cash injection is one of the preliminaries to the move," said Xia Fulu, an analyst at Xingye Securities.

But Xia added that it's hard to predict the result as the application date has yet to be revealed.

Shanghai Airlines, which is the fifth largest airline in China and is supervised by the local State-assets regulator, said on Thursday in an announcement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that the company is in need of a capital injection under its current operation condition, but did not elaborate further.