South Africa's 1time airline to list on local bourse
By Ron Derby
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's second largest low-cost airline, 1time, is set to list on Johannesburg's smaller bourse AltX and capitalise on strong growth in air travel, it said on Monday.
1time said it would list on AltX, operated by the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, on Aug 14 and would offer 30 million ordinary shares at an issue price of 100 cents per ordinary share, raising 30 million rand.
1time said the domestic market had grown by around 14 percent a year over the last three years.
"Notwithstanding the significant growth achieved by low fare airlines, it is estimated that less than 10 percent of South Africans travel by air. This augurs well for the future growth of this market segment," the firm said.
1time's main rivals in the domestic market are Comair -- which is listed on the main bourse with a market capitalisation of 1.2 billion rand -- and government-owned airliner SAA, which has a new low-cost airline Mango.
Last month, Comair said Mango's "unprofitable ticket pricing" had negatively affected industry profits in the fourth quarter to the end of June, and warned it could also impact future results.
1time Marketing Director Rodney James said Mango's impact on 1time had not been as onerous: "We have had steady growth since Mango's launch and are expecting 25 percent growth in passengers this year."
James also said oil prices -- which are at record highs -- have not had a dramatic impact on operations.
"Obviously there has been a small increase in air fares to account for that. But they (prices) are the same as they were more than five years ago," he said.
1time said South Africa's aviation industry was forecast to transport about 12.5 million domestic passengers in 2007.
"The domestic market has grown by approximately 14 percent per annum over the last three years whilst achieving a growth rate of 70 percent over the past five years," 1time said in a statement.
Article from http://africa.reuters.com/
Fair prices available at www.southafrica-carhire.com
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's second largest low-cost airline, 1time, is set to list on Johannesburg's smaller bourse AltX and capitalise on strong growth in air travel, it said on Monday.
1time said it would list on AltX, operated by the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, on Aug 14 and would offer 30 million ordinary shares at an issue price of 100 cents per ordinary share, raising 30 million rand.
1time said the domestic market had grown by around 14 percent a year over the last three years.
"Notwithstanding the significant growth achieved by low fare airlines, it is estimated that less than 10 percent of South Africans travel by air. This augurs well for the future growth of this market segment," the firm said.
1time's main rivals in the domestic market are Comair -- which is listed on the main bourse with a market capitalisation of 1.2 billion rand -- and government-owned airliner SAA, which has a new low-cost airline Mango.
Last month, Comair said Mango's "unprofitable ticket pricing" had negatively affected industry profits in the fourth quarter to the end of June, and warned it could also impact future results.
1time Marketing Director Rodney James said Mango's impact on 1time had not been as onerous: "We have had steady growth since Mango's launch and are expecting 25 percent growth in passengers this year."
James also said oil prices -- which are at record highs -- have not had a dramatic impact on operations.
"Obviously there has been a small increase in air fares to account for that. But they (prices) are the same as they were more than five years ago," he said.
1time said South Africa's aviation industry was forecast to transport about 12.5 million domestic passengers in 2007.
"The domestic market has grown by approximately 14 percent per annum over the last three years whilst achieving a growth rate of 70 percent over the past five years," 1time said in a statement.
Article from http://africa.reuters.com/
Fair prices available at www.southafrica-carhire.com
Labels: South Africa - Airlines
