EVENING 5: MYAirline open to being taken over, admits to lack of contingency plan

The Edge TV

In today’s edition of Evening 5 — MYAirline said that it is open to new owners, admits that the lack of a contingency plan led to the sudden suspension of operations. Meanwhile, KNM Group’s current chairman remains despite attempts to vote him out.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:04 Cash-strapped low-cost carrier MyAirline's major shareholder, Datuk Alan Goh Hwan Hua,

00:09 is willing to relinquish all his shareholding in the airline,

00:12 according to Interim Accountable Executive Director Datuk Sri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.

00:17 He told this to reporters at a press conference held today,

00:21 the first it's held since MyAirline abruptly suspended its operations last Thursday.

00:26 According to Azharuddin, MyAirline is actively exploring strategic partnerships

00:31 and have received several proposals which are currently going through detailed evaluation

00:36 and due diligence. When asked for a timeline if the airline were to shut down if negotiations fail,

00:42 Azharuddin said that the airline is positive that it will get back its licenses,

00:47 but didn't promise a timeline. MyAirline has also pledged to refund the 125,000 passengers

00:53 who had purchased tickets prior to the suspension, saying that it will be done

00:57 once it secures potential investors and gets new funding. Total refunds are estimated at

01:03 RM22 million based on ticket sales. Azharuddin acknowledged the airline's error and says that

01:09 they understand the frustration experienced by its passengers, especially those that were left

01:14 stranded at the airport, and admit there was a lack of contingencies due to the 11th hour pullout

01:21 by its investor. He also admitted to MyAirline's communication shortcomings with both the Malaysian

01:27 Aviation Commission and the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, specifically its failure

01:32 to engage with authorities and passengers in a timelier manner before deciding to temporarily

01:38 suspend its operations. Likewise, Azharuddin said MyAirline staff will receive their prioritised

01:45 statutory payments and September salaries once a new investor is secured and funding is obtained.

01:50 MyAirline currently employs more than 900 people. He maintains that all employees remain

01:56 under employment and that no one has been placed on unpaid leave or terminated. When asked how much

02:02 the airline needs to pay back all salaries and refunds to restart its flight operations,

02:07 Azharuddin said millions. Meanwhile, the CAAM has suspended the air operator certificate of

02:13 MyAirline for 90 days from Monday, pending further investigations into the troubled airline.

02:19 Deputy Transport Minister Dato' Hazbi Habibola told Parliament today that the two-year extension

02:25 of the AOC by the CAAM was based on a technical audit carried out in May. An analysis was also

02:31 conducted by Mavcom as recently as October 3, during which MyAirline did not show signs

02:37 of financial issues that warranted the suspension of its operations, according to Hazbi.

02:48 Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Tunku Datuk Sri Zafral Abdul Aziz has assured

02:52 that there will be no changes in the prices of products in the industry sector when the sales

02:58 and service tax is raised next year from 6% to 8%, but adds that the ministry will continue to

03:04 monitor the impact of the implementation on the sector. Zafral said the government has a fiscal

03:10 responsibility to increase its revenue and that it is important for the industry to understand

03:15 why Putrajaya is taking such a decision. The government is expecting an additional revenue

03:20 of RM3 billion from the increase in SST, according to reports. Aside from the higher rate, the scope

03:27 of the SST will also be widened to include logistics services, brokerage and underwriting,

03:32 as well as karoke, while F&B and telecommunications are excluded. He was talking to reporters at the

03:38 sidelines of the roundtable dialogue discussing the new Industrial Master Plan 2030 hosted by MIDF.

03:45 On NIMP 2030, Zafral said MITI is working to get as many local industries as possible to participate

03:53 in the national strategic direction in order for the companies to reap the benefits of the spillover effects.

04:04 Following KNM Group's EGM today, the group's chairman, Tunku Dato' Yaakob Khaira, has won the

04:09 majority support of shareholders to continue with his leadership and deliver on his turnaround

04:15 strategy. In a statement, Tunku Yaakob thanked all shareholders for their confidence, trust and

04:20 continued support. He said that the board is heartened by the support from shareholders and

04:25 wishes to inform them that the board remains fully committed in their efforts to ensure their targets

04:31 of debt settlement within nine months through a partial IPO of Borsig, which he says in turn will

04:36 ensure a profitable and sustainable future for KNM. Notably, he holds a 9.5% indirect stake in the group.

04:45 To recap, German businessman Andreas Hischen, along with parties acting in concert, are attempting to

04:50 oust the entire board, including Tunku Yaakob. Meanwhile, Johor Princess Tunku Kemaria Amina

04:56 Maimuna Iskandaria Sultan Iskandar, who together with Hischen and the group that were aiming for

05:01 a management takeover of KNM, has come out to denounce the results of the EGM. In a statement,

05:07 Tunku Kemaria said her group will be calling for an investigation over alleged possible irregularities

05:13 in the vote count.

05:14 The federal court has dismissed appeals by ex-PM Dato' Sri Najib Razak and his son,

05:24 Dato' Nazifuddin Najib, against summary judgments compelling the duo to pay $1.69 billion and $37.64

05:31 million in tax arrears. Reading out the unanimous decision by the Apex Court's five-judge bench,

05:37 Judge Tan Sri Nalini Pathamanathan said they upheld the Court of Appeal and High Court's

05:42 decision which ruled that they must pay the amounts owed to the government. She said that

05:47 father and son were not treated unfairly and the judgments compelling them to pay the taxes do not

05:52 contravene Article 8 of the federal constitution which states that all persons are equal before

05:57 the law and entitled to equal protection and Article 5(1) which states that no person shall

06:03 be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with law. The judge added that the

06:09 collection of tax is done in the same manner for all citizens of the nation. She says that the duo

06:15 have not been singled out for discriminatory treatment nor treated in a manner not provided

06:20 for in the Income Tax Act 1967. She adds that there is no evidential basis on record to support

06:27 such a contention. The bench then dismissed the appeal with no order as to costs.

06:31 The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has taken two law firms to court in order to compel

06:42 them to produce documents linked to a settlement agreement between Goldman Sachs and Ambank in

06:47 relation to the 1MDB scandal. The anti-graft body had filed two separate applications,

06:53 one against lawyer Rosli Dalan and his firm Rosli Dalan Saravanan and lawyer Chetan Jathwani and

06:59 his firm Chetan Jathwani and Company and other respondents. In its application dated October 11th,

07:05 the MACC said that it was seeking the documents under the firm's custody, care and control to aid

07:11 in the agency's investigations on allegations that Rosli and Chetan were involved in bribery and

07:17 money laundering regarding Goldman Sachs' US$3.9 billion and Ambank's RM2.83 billion settlement

07:24 with the Malaysian government over 1MDB. The MACC also said that, among others, the documents were

07:31 needed to determine if the respondents had colluded with the Wall Street Bank and others in reducing

07:36 the compensation amount or asset recovery in the Goldman Sachs settlement and to identify

07:41 the money flow and layering from the bank's account to accounts of the firms. According

07:46 to court documents seen by The Edge, the MACC said that it faced obstacles in obtaining the documents.

07:52 The application against Chetan and his firm came up for case management in the High Court on Monday.

07:58 In an affidavit, Chetan noted the application and the allegations in the investigations were

08:03 wholly false and without basis. Meanwhile, when contacted, Rosli said he had yet to be served with

08:08 the papers as he is currently not in the country. The application against Rosli and his firm comes

08:14 up on Tuesday.

Category

Transcript

Recommended