A note to investors by Kenya Airways analysts has indicated that the national carrier will earn at least Sh. 11 billion from the sale of its planes and leasing of its planes, and the sale of its prime landing slot at Heathrow Airport.
Subsequently, according to analysts at Citi group, Kenya Airways’ liquidity issues were now under control following these deals. Citi analysts project that these one-off incomes will cumulatively boost KQ’s earnings for this financial year, seeing it end the period with a net loss of Sh11.6 billion, less than half last year’s Sh25.7 billion after-tax loss.
Kenya Airways pocketed Sh. 4 billion from the sale of its Heathrow slot to Oman Air and a further Sh. 10.4 billion in pre-delivery deposit refunds. Kenya Airways has agreed to sub-lease three Boeing 777-300ERs for four to five years from May/June 2016 and two Boeing 787-8s for three years from April/May 2016, reducing net fleet ownership costs by Sh707 million per month.
It now has 43 active planes from lat year’s 50. Citi’s analysts project that the national carrier, which has posted losses for three consecutive year, could return to profitability in the year to March 2018 with a Sh2 billion net profit.
