Malaysia's Capital A names new deputy CEO, explores dual listing in Hong Kong

By Danial Azhar

KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Capital A Berhad CAPI.KL named a senior banker as its deputy chief executive on Monday as the group looks to scale up its core businesses after spinning off its aviation arm to its affiliate, budget airline operator AirAsia X AIRX.KL.

Effendy Shahul Hamid, a former CEO of consumer and digital banking at Malaysia's CIMB Group, will help spearhead growth, including exploring a plan to list the firm in Hong Kong by mid-year, Capital A founder and CEO Tony Fernandes said.

"We've appointed bankers and that could potentially happen in July or August this year," he told a press conference.

In January, Capital A completed the sale of its short-haul aviation business to AirAsia X, allowing the airlines to focus on expanding operations and reducing costs while Capital A looked to grow its businesses in areas including logistics, branding and aircraft maintenance.

Since then, both companies have been badly hit by the economic fallout of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which has sent jet fuel prices soaring. Capital A's shares are down 27% over the past month, while AirAsia X's have plunged 41%.

Fernandes said Capital A has seen a limited impact from the Middle East conflict on its businesses, which include aircraft maintenance, freight and logistics, food catering and branding services.

He said AirAsia would work to keep its fares low and would not cancel flights amid the conflict, adding the budget carrier would provide updates on its operations next week.

Fernandes said Capital A was also aiming to list its branding unit, AirAsia Next, in the U.S. by the end of the year, reviving a plan that was called off two years ago.

He said the listing plans for Capital A and AirAsia Next were dependent on the group's exit from PN17 classification, a tag given by Malaysia's stock exchange to financially distressed companies.

Capital A has been classified as PN17 since 2022, after incurring large losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fernandes said Capital A would be exiting its PN17 status "very soon", without giving a definitive timeline.

"We just need to submit our audited accounts (to the stock exchange). I don't want to jump the gun, but that's the last thing we have (to do)," he said.