AirAsia shares fall 18% as auditor raises ‘going concern’ doubts

Shares in AirAsia fell by almost a fifth on Wednesday after the Malaysian airline’s auditor said coronavirus had cast “significant doubt” on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.  “The travel and border restrictions implemented by countries around the world has led to a significant fall in demand for air travel which impacted the group’s financial performance and cash flows,” EY said in a stock exchange statement on Tuesday. EY also highlighted that in the 2019 financial year, AirAsia’s liabilities exceeded current assets by RM1.84b ($430m) and the carrier owned by tycoon Tony Fernandes registered a net loss of RM283m.  AirAsia stock fell as trading resumed after a halt that lasted until early afternoon, closing down 18%. “It’s quite clear globally that for privately owned airlines, this is an exceptionally tough challenge. They don’t have as much government support to fall back on,” said Paul Yong, equity analyst at DBS, pointing to struggling peers such as Virgin Australia, which has collapsed into administration. AirAsia said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday that criteria had been triggered for it to be categorised as a financially distressed company, which would mean it had to produce a business improvement plan. However, it said it would avoid that designation for now under a 14-month relief period extended by the Malaysian bourse to companies hit by the coronavirus crisis.<br/>