Singapore Airlines posts record US$3.2b annual loss, to issue convertible bonds

Singapore Airlines on Wednesday posted its second-consecutive annual loss, which widened to a record S$4.27b ($3.20b), and said it would issue S$6.2b of convertible bonds to help weather the coronavirus crisis. The loss for the 12 months ended March 31 was worse than the average S$3.27b forecast by eight analysts, according to Refinitiv, and included S$2b of impairments largely on the 45 older planes surplus to requirements. It was also far bigger than the S$212m annual loss in the prior financial year, its first ever dip into the red, when only one quarter was affected by the pandemic. Annual revenue fell 76.1% to S$3.82b in the financial year ended March 31, with strong cargo revenues not enough to offset an almost 98% fall in passenger numbers. The airline said it expected passenger capacity to rise to 28% of pre-pandemic levels by June, but much of that is due to strong freight demand sustaining the number of flights. It filled just 13.4% of passenger seats in the financial year ended March 31. The airline, which has no domestic market, has been one of the world’s hardest hit in terms of passenger traffic alongside rival Cathay Pacific Airways. “This crisis is not over,” Singapore Airlines Chairman Peter Seah said. “While the growing pace of vaccinations has given us hope, new waves of infections around the world mean that restrictions on international travel largely remain in place.”<br/>