KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Capital A Bhd chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes expects the ongoing geopolitical risks to not affect the group’s regional operations in 2024.
In a statement filed with Bursa Malaysia, he said the group’s post-pandemic recovery has been robust and diverse, spread across multiple markets, a trend the group plans to continue.
Nevertheless, he said the group would continue to track the geopolitical risks.
“While global geopolitical turbulence continues and jet fuel prices rose in the first quarter, I remain hopeful of a downtrend of jet fuel prices by year-end.
“I am also optimistic about a favourable shift in the US dollar against key Asean currencies, which, alongside market expectations of further interest rate cuts in 2025, would be a significant boon for us, given that 70 per cent of our costs are denominated in US dollars,” he said.
Fernandes noted that the recent easing of tourist visa regulations for travellers from China and India bodes well for the dominant network in Asean.
“These factors signal a positive outlook for our businesses within our aviation-led ecosystem, especially Capital A Aviation Services (CAAS), Teleport and MOVE Digital, which will benefit from spillover momentum from the aviation business,” he said.
Fernandes said he is optimistic about Teleport, the group’s logistics business, as rising yields in the intra-Asean air cargo space are expected to outperform the global air cargo market’s projected two to three per cent growth in the first half of 2024.
“Our cost-effective structure will be to Teleport’s advantage in this environment,” he added. — Bernama
