Garuda Indonesia's shares fall after lifting of trading freeze

Shares of Garuda Indonesia slumped as much as 14.4% on Tuesday, marking the state carrier’s first trading day in 1-1/2 years, after the Jakarta stock exchange lifted a stock trading suspension. By 0400 GMT, the shares had pared losses and were down around 1.8% compared to their last market close on June 17, 2021, to trade at 218 rupiah ($0.0140) a piece. Garuda’s shares were suspended after the airline defaulted on $500m of Islamic bonds in 2021, amid financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline underwent a court-led debt restructuring last year. Garuda’s CE Irfan Setiaputra said the lifting of the suspension would be a catalyst for the airline to strengthen its fundamentals. The company plans to increase its fleet to at least 72 planes this year, not including aircraft operated by its low cost unit Citilink, to cater to a growing number of passengers after Indonesia removed all COVID-19 restrictions at the end of last year, it said. At the end of 2022, Garuda operated 61 planes, a company presentation on Dec. 27 showed. <br/>