Fiji Airways is boasting a strong balance sheet with an equity of $266million in 2023 – meaning if the business were to close tomorrow its shareholders would be returned this amount.
The airline states in its 2023 annual report that was tabled in Parliament on Friday, it is 82.6 per cent locally owned with the Government of Fiji holding 51 per cent shares, Fiji National Provided Fund having 30.02 per cent shares and Unit Trust of Fiji with 1.58 per cent shares.
However, after recording a record revenue of $1.8billion in 2023, Fiji Airways has warned “2024 will be a very different year to 2023”.
It has identified nine key areas that poses challenges to its operations this year, that includes geopolitical tensions and increased competition.
The annual report states shareholders’ equity closed at $265.7 million in 2023.
Fiji Airways total cash held was $311.2 million, a decrease of 17 per cent compared with the previous year.
This includes $216 million in operating cash and $95.2 million in secured term deposits, “which serve as collateral against standby letters of credit facilities”, said the company.
“This strong balance sheet underscores the resilience of our financial strategies and the effectiveness of our recovery initiatives,” states the company.
The airline states during the COVID pandemic, the company’s shareholders approved an equity capital raising of $200 million via the issue of up to 47,393,365 ordinary shares at an issue price of $4.22 per share which represents a 74 per cent discount of the share price at the end of 2019.
“In October 2021, the Republic of Fiji participated in the capital raise and contributed $101.9 million new equity in exchange for 24,170,428 new ordinary shares.
“The balance of the company’s existing shareholders declined to participate in the capital raise, and the board of directors resolved to offer the remaining shares to the Fiji National Provident Fund and the Unit Trust of Fiji.”
Fiji Airways states in June 2022, the Fiji National Provident Fund acquired 22,061,790 ordinary shares in exchange for equity of $93.1 million, and the Unit Trust of Fiji acquired 1,161,147 ordinary shares (equating to 1.58 per cent of the total ordinary shares on issue) in exchange for equity of $4.9 million.
