Chinese School - Singapore Airlines gets nod to invest in China Eastern

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BIZCHINA / Center

Singapore Airlines gets nod to invest in China Eastern

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-28 14:34

Chinese regulators have approved Singapore Airlines to buy stake of China
Eastern and the final deal is due to be made public on Sunday.

Details of the cooperation is under talk between the two aircraft
companies and China Eastern will announce a specific proposal in its
press conference held this Sunday, the Shanghai Securities News reported
on Tuesday.

Li Fenghua, chairman of China Eastern, said earlier that Singapore
Airlines would not get more than 25 percent of his company, which is the
maximum allowed by Chinese law.

For China Eastern, the deal means a major cash injection that will
improve the quality of its assets.

Singapore Airlines will also bring to China Eastern managerial expertise
and in return get access to China's rapidly growing mainland aviation
market.

Related readings:
?China Eastern gets nod for stake sale
?China Eastern to buy 10 A320s with $612.84m
?China Eastern approved to sell stake to Singapore Airlines

China Eastern said the company's profit totaled 263 million yuan (US$34.6
million) in the first six months after suffering losses for two
consecutive years, on the back of better performance and income generated
from the rising yuan.

It carried 18.33 million passengers and 422,800 tons of cargo in the
first half, up 9.17 percent and 0.81 percent respectively.

As one of the three largest carriers in China along with Air China and
China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines registered losses of 2.78
billion yuan in 2006 and 510.86 million yuan in the first quarter of 2007.

Trading of the company's stocks has been suspended since May 22 for the
announcement. Its stock price last closed at 9.6 yuan.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)

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� China Eastern gets nod for stake sale
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� China Eastern approved to sell stake to Singapore Airlines
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