AirAsia X shares up 11% despite RM11.3m Q1 loss

SHARES in AirAsia X (AAX) inexplicably rose 11 per cent to RM0.84 apiece yesterday despite the medium-haul budget carrier posting a net loss of RM11.3 million (S$4.4 million) for its fiscal first quarter.

AAX said yesterday that it recorded a 40 per cent increase in revenue to RM749.5 million, but this still was not enough to avert a RM48 million loss in pre-tax profit. The final RM11.3 million loss figure came about because of deferred taxation.

Most aviation analysts had expected AAX to continue to post losses. Its strategy of increasing capacity coupled with ferocious competition particularly in the Australian market had caused yields in the continent to plummet.