No Plans To Privatise MAS.

Date: 17 January 2013

No Plans To Privatise MAS.

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- Khazanah Nasional Bhd has no plans to privatise Malaysia Airlines (MAS), its managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said. “There are no plans to take it private. MAS has improved, with better numbers and products but there's still a lot to do because aviation is a tough industry," he told the media at a press conference here Thursday.

Responding to analysts' suggestion to privatise MAS, Azman said: "When you take something private you obviously have to pay above the market price. What it doesn't do is put money into the company, and the company needs money."

Privatisation, he added, would not solve MAS' problem. "The plan didn't answer how to put in more money to the company. It probably cost more money and MAS may lose even more market discipline because now, even if it is bad news, it forces them to go and make the operation better because every quarter they have to pay the market. Indeed, they have been gradually showing better results, which we think is good," Azman said.

He said Khazanah is ready to help MAS and will back them in terms of recapitalisation. "MAS is important to the country. Definitely strategic. Whatever they do, they need to get the operations better," he said.

Meanwhile on the divestment of Time Engineering, Azman said the process of selection is going on and has to be concluded this year. "If they get it right, the sooner the better. Let the company do the announcement," he said.

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