Shares of Thai Airways International Pcl will resume trading Monday in Bangkok for the first time in five years, the culmination of the state-controlled airline’s emergence from its US$12 billion debt restructuring.
The move marks the flag carrier’s return to normal business operations after it had accumulated more than 400 billion baht ($12 billion) of debt in the lead up to the pandemic that ravaged the global travel industry. The company in June exited a court-supervised debt rehabilitation as the post-Covid travel demand boom enabled it to achieve an earnings turnaround and sell new shares to raise capital.
“Thai Air’s valuation deserves a premium due to its successful business rehabilitation,” said Raweenuch Piyakriengkai, InnovestX Securities analyst, who gives the stock an “outperform” rating. The company’s restructuring “has firmly established a high earnings baseline and significantly enhanced future competitiveness,” she said.
Surging Revenue Helps Thai Air Exit Debt Program
InnovestX has a price target of 7.8 baht on the shares, while CGS International Securities sets it at 10.80 baht, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Thai Air late last year sold new shares to its existing shareholders at 4.48 baht each. The shares were last traded in May 2021.
Thai Air reported first-quarter net income jumping fourfold year on year as the number of its passengers rose more than 11%. The airline sees strong bookings in the second quarter, led by rising demand for flights to Europe, Australia and India, Chief Executive Officer Chai Eamsiri said in May.
As part of the rescue plan, the carrier’s creditors agreed to convert about 53 billion baht of debt into shares. It raised about 23 billion baht from the sale of new shares to boost capital.
