AirAsia targets RM10m sales from three-day travel fair

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Bhd aims to rake in RM10mil in ticket sales from the three-day AirAsia Travel Fair 2014, which started on Friday and stretches until Sunday.

Group Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said he was also optimistic about securing even higher sales than what was targeted. The fair is the first of its kind to be organised by the low cost carrier.

"We are steadfast over maintaining our market share and to remain the airline of choice when it comes to travel. This fair is one of the strategies towards providing additional access to our services and products.

"It also provides an opportunity to interact directly with current and prospective customers and get to know their expectations and opinions on our various products and services," he told reporters after launching the fair here.

Fernandes also expects ticket sales from the fair to contribute positively to the group's earnings for the first quarter ending March 31, 2014.

Customers at the fair get a 20% off seats booked on all flights for the duration of the travel fair for the travel period of March 1 until Sept 30, 2014.

Fernandes also announced free travel flight insurance of up to RM15 on return flight for all nurses in Malaysia, effective today, and for a month.

Meanwhile, on the progress of the klia2, he said the airline is leaving the matter to the regulator to handle.

"Even if the klia2 is delayed (the launch), I think it will not affect our business, as we have our own plans and will keep moving forward," he added. - Bernama

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/02/28/AirAsia-targets-RM10m-sales-from-three-day-travel-fair/

AirAsia confident of paying 2013 dividend

IHH dividend policy 'not less than 20%'

IHH Healthcare posts earnings of RM631.16m in FY13

KUALA LUMPUR: IHH Healthcare posted earnings of RM631.16mil in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2013 compared with RM750.79mil in FY12 when there were exceptional items.

It said on Thursday its revenue fell 2.9% to RM6.75bil from RM6.96bil. However, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, exchange differences & other non-operational items (EBITDA) increased 6% to RM1.66bil.

"Stripping out one-off effects of the sale of Novena medical suites in 2012, contribution from PLife REIT and exceptional items, the group's underlying operational performance saw strong growth, with revenue up 18% to RM6.75bil.

"EBITDA increased 32% to RM1.5bil and profit after tax and minority interests (PATAMI) rose a significant 70% to RM602.50mil," it said.

IHH Healthcare said the strong revenue and EBITDA performance were due to organic growth of existing operations and ramping up of new hospitals.

It explained that both Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital and Acibadem Ankara Hospitalachieved positive EBITDA in 2013.

IHH Healthcare also consolidated full 12 months of Acibadem Holdings performance in 2013 compared with 11 months in 2012 when the group acquired Acibadem Holdings on Jan 24, 2012.

It added the group recovered about RM22mil in relation to prior year tax and investment tax allowances of RM22.9mil to offset the incremental depreciation and finance costs from three new hospitals in Singapore and Turkey upon completion of construction in 2012.

In the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2013, it posted net profit of RM230.10mil, up 47% from RM156.51mil a year ago. Its revenue rose 16.5% to RM1.78bil from RM1.527bil. Earnings per share were 2.83 sen compared with 1.94 sen.

IHH Healthcare also announced a dividend policy of no less than 20% of the group's PATAMI excluding exceptional items. It recommended a first and final single tier cash dividend of 2.0 sen for FY13.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/02/27/IHH-Healthcare-posts-earnings-of-RM631m-in-FY13/

IHH Q4'13

Finally, IHH is going to declare 2 cents dividend for financial year 2013.  At the same time, IHH announced a dividend policy of no less than 20%.