Taiwan airline TransAsia to be dissolved, Economic Daily reports

[TAIPEI] The board of TransAsia Airways Corp, the Taiwanese airline that suffered two fatal crashes in the last two years, has decided to dissolve the company after halting flights on Tuesday, the Economic Daily News reported, citing no one.

The Taipei-based airline, whose board was scheduled to meet early Tuesday, is set to hold a press conference in the city at 1.15pm local time. The company will abide by disclosure rules and release information through formal channels, a company spokesman said. The carrier has reported losses in the past seven quarters, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Financial Supervisory Commission and the Ministry of Justice late Monday said they had initiated a probe into insider trading of the company's shares prior to news reports of the flight suspensions.

Separately, the Taiwan stock exchange said earlier Monday it would fine the company NT$1.5 million (S$66,900) for breaching corporate disclosure rules.

Trading in TransAsia's shares were suspended starting today, according to a company filing.

The island's Civil Aeronautics Administration said the airline should have gotten regulatory approval for the suspensions, which will affect 84 flights and about 5,000 customers. Taiwan's cabinet has directed affected customers to seek assistance from its Consumer Protection Committee.

Subject of Probe TransAsia has been the subject of investigations for two fatal crashes since 2014.

The crash of Flight GE235 into a river in Taipei in 2015 killed 43 people. Flight GE222, which went down in the outlying Penghu islands in July 2014, killed 48.

The company's shares have fallen about 56 per cent since the first of the disasters, while the benchmark Taiex index dropped 3.7 per cent over the same period.

TransAsia shares slumped 7.1 per cent to NT$5.20 on Nov 21 before the suspension, giving the airline a market value of NT$3.95 billion. More than 10.7 million shares changed hands yesterday.

Creditors will monitor developments at the company, which has borrowed NT$11 billion in syndicated loans, Central News Agency reported, citing FSC Chairman Lee Ruey-tsang.

BLOOMBERG