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| (From left) Mohamad Najib, Raya Airways executive chairman Dr Kamaruzaman Mohamath Shariff (seated) and commercial director Lee Shashitheren. |
Raya Airways Sdn Bhd, the
restructured entity of Transmile Air Services Sdn Bhd (TAS), formerly a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Transmile Group Bhd whose RM530 million accounting
fraud was the biggest corporate scandal in mid-2007, is going through a major
strategic transformation in a bid to shake off its old image.
In July last year, Transmile Group
disposed of TAS to Amrul Nizar Anuar Resources Sdn Bhd for RM40 million, which
renamed the carrier Raya Airways.
A search at the Companies Commission
of Malaysia (SSM) revealed that Amrul Nizar Anuar Resources’ main shareholder
is CIMB Islamic Trustee Bhd (5.2 million shares), with Raya Airways managing
director Mohamad Najib Ishak holding one share. Amrul Nizar Anuar Resources
directors are former KFC Holdings (M) Bhd deputy executive chairman Datuk Ishak
Ismail, Aizul Rohan Anuar, Ahmad Hazman Salleh, Mohamad Yusof Ishak and Mohamad
Najib.
As at May 26, 2014, Raya Airways’
authorised share capital stood at RM500 million and its issued capital was
RM266.7 million. Its directors included AirAsia Bhd’s former chief financial
officer Raja Mohd Azmi Raja Razali, Destini Bhd group managing director Datuk
Rozabil@Rozamujib Abdul Rahaman, Raya Airways executive chairman Dr Kamaruzaman
Mohamath Shariff, Tan Tong Lang and Mohamad Najib.
In an interview with The Edge
Financial Daily, Raya Airways commercial director Lee Shashitheren said the air
cargo carrier would invest US$180 million (RM586.8 million) in a fleet-renewal
programme and new warehouses, retrain pilots and increase its manpower in the
next three to five years.
Lee said with the fleet-renewal
exercise, Raya Airways would replace three of its aging Boeing 727-200s that
have a cargo capacity of 22 tonnes with four larger 757-200s, which are able to
carry loads of up to 32 tonnes, by year-end.
“Previously the company owned 12
freighters, although only six were operational. Of this, three are being used
at the moment,” he said.
This year, Raya Airways targets
45,000 tonnes of cargo from 31,000 tonnes in 2013. “We hope to triple the
volume of cargo from about 30,000 tonnes a year to 100,000 tonnes over the next
five to 10 years,” said Lee.
He said the time was ripe for Raya
Airways to change the public perception of the carrier, starting with a new
name and its official launch by year-end.
Lee said that the name Raya Airways
was chosen to give an “air of ease”, in which the word “raya” depicts large and
often represents a “happy” connection to celebrations.
“The rebranding exercise is not just
a make-up. It is a new beginning [for the carrier]... to remove what’s bad and
move on. It is a long process that requires a lot of approvals, for example, to
change our name.
“It involved working with various
authorities such as the Department of Civil Aviation, the Transport Ministry,
the International Civil Aviation Organisation and other airports that we are
conducting business in.
“Thankfully [the name change] has
been done and we have a good team to start afresh,” he said.
Lee said the new shareholders had
managed to turn the carrier around 14 months after taking over TAS.
According to a filing with SSM, Raya
Airways posted a net profit of RM442.45 million on revenue of RM147.11 million
for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2013.
The anomaly in the figure where the
profit weighed higher than the revenue could be an accounting treatment, which
occurs when there are extraordinary items such as tax write-backs.
“At the time the private entity was
taken over, TAS was losing about RM2 million a month but we are achieving a net
profit now,” said Lee, adding that the carrier’s gross profit margin now
hovered between 7% and 8%, higher than the airline industry’s average of 3%.
DHL International Ltd, once
Transmile Group’s single-largest customer, remains Raya Airways’ major client.
The global air express cargo operator renewed its contract with Raya Airways in
early September.
“We have cut many unprofitable
routes. The ones we are servicing now are all profitable. We also lease our
aircraft for private charters by companies that want their goods sent
immediately to a certain destination,” Lee said.
If the plans go accordingly, Raya Airways hopes to one day be the No.1 air cargo carrier in the country, and perhaps redeem the title of the “darling of the local aviation industry”. – The Edge Financial Daily, October 7, 2014.
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