AirAsia shares slide on investor concerns

Kuala Lumpur

AIRASIA Bhd's shares skidded as much as 13 per cent on Wednesday as investors spooked by a report questioning the Malaysian budget carrier's accounting remained unconvinced by chief executive Tony Fernandes' confidence that his firm can raise cash readily and has no need for recapitalisation.

By 0645 GMT, the stock had trimmed losses but was still down 7.9 per cent, giving Asia's biggest low-cost airline a market value of RM4.6 billion (S$1.7 billion). The shares have dropped nearly 30 per cent, to five-year lows, since the June 10 report by little-known firm GMT Research first startled shareholders. The slide came after Mr Fernandes responded to concerns about AirAsia's operations while attending the Paris Air Show, without referring directly to the GMT report which said the carrier used transactions with associate companies to boost earnings. "We have so many cash-raising opportunities from our fleet, our investments, from our national cash operations, there is no need for a capital raise," Mr Fernandes said on the sidelines of the show.