JAL Shares Plunge to 7 Yen on Bankruptcy Fears
Shares in troubled Japan Airlines Corp. plunged to just 7 yen Wednesday while the money-losing airline was expected to file for bankruptcy protection as early as next week.
Investors dumped JAL shares Wednesday, with prices standing at just 7 yen, down 30 yen — the maximum decline allowed during a day — or 19 percent from Tuesday’s close of 37 yen.
Japan’s top business daily Nikkei and the major daily Ashai said Asia’s biggest airline was expected to file for bankruptcy protection as early as Jan. 19 with its shares to be delisted.
“The reports that JAL shares are to be delisted spooked investors. Investors continued to sell its shares because they could well become just worthless,” said Yutaka Shiraki, senior strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. Ltd.
While the Japanese airline is teetering toward bankruptcy, its access to Asia is a prized asset for other airlines.
Delta Air Lines Inc. — the world’s biggest airline operator — and its rival American Airlines are offering cash support for JAL as they seek to expand their Asian networks.
American Airlines, along with its alliance partners, on Tuesday boosted its offer of support to Japan Airlines to keep the money-losing airline with the oneworld family.
American, British, Airways, Qantas Airways and Cathay Pacific Airways said they are ready to inject $1.4 billion cash into Japan’s flagship carrier, up from $1.1 billion. In addition, they will guarantee $2 billion in revenue over the next three years if JAL stays in the oneworld alliance.
Delta and its SkyTeam partners, for their part, have offered $1 billion, including $500 million in cash.
Following its bankruptcy filing, JAL is to slash about 15,600 jobs — 33 percent of its group work force — under a restructuring plan being hammered out by a state-backed corporate turnaround body, Kyodo News agency has said.
The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan, which is responsible for JAL’s restructuring, will ask banks to forgive 350 billion yen ($3.8 billion) of debt owed by the airline, the Nikkei said during the weekend.
1/12/2010 8:15 PM TOKYO (AP)