Japanese carrier Skymark applies for Tokyo relisting

Japan's mid-sized carrier Skymark has applied to relist on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as it hopes to benefit from post-COVID growth, Nikkei has learned. Skymark plans to use the funds it wants to raise from the relisting of its shares to strengthen its financials and invest in digital and aircraft upgrades. Like other airlines, its finances were severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Skymark was delisted in 2015 after filing for bankruptcy, but since then, capital injections from Japanese investment fund Integral and ANA Holdings, among others, helped it to restructure its business. In the autumn of 2019, the company applied to relist but later withdrew due to the deteriorating business environment during the pandemic. The company reported a net loss of 6.7b yen ($45m) for the fiscal year ended March 2022, a narrower loss than the 16.3b yen it reported in the previous year. However, as passenger demand starts to recover with the easing of COVID-related curbs, the company plans to shift from streamlining its business to an expansion in view of future growth of the travel sector. Skymark's business has improved, with sources saying that it recorded an operating profit in July. If its application to relist is approved, the earliest Skymark stock will be traded on the market is the end of this year. The relisting proceeds will help to improve the company's equity ratio, which had fallen to about 10% in the last fiscal year. It also plans to renew its Boeing 737 aircraft and invest in digital technology to improve its passenger management system and increase overall productivity.<br/>