KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X Bhd says it is no longer classified as a financially-distressed company under Practice Note 17 (PN17) status.
The upliftment of the status came after AirAsia X had appealed and fulfilled Bursa Malaysia's condition, it said in an exchange filing today.
"(Bursa has) resolved to allow the appeal subject to AirAsia X announcing a profit after taxation attributable to the company's equity holders in the quarterly results," it added.
"The upliftment of AirAsia X from being classified as a PN17 company will come into effect on the next market day after fulfilment of the condition.
In a separate announcement, AirAsia X announced that its net profit plunged 77.8 per cent to RM5.56 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3Q23) from RM25.09 million a year ago, on the back of lower sales.
Quarterly revenue, however, increased to RM648.36 million from RM100.1 million previously.
AirAsia X said the multifold surge was attributable to the recovery of international travel and the group's available seat capacity over the past 12-month period.
The low-cost airline highlighted that for the most part of 2022, its revenue was primarily generated from charter and freight services.
In 2023, AirAsia X's number of operational aircraft had grown to 14 aircraft by September, subsequently allowing the group to meet the demand for international travel.
"This period under review has traditionally recorded relatively lower sales due to the seasonality of international sectors, yet the group had achieved an over 53 per cent recovery against the same period pre-Covid-19.
"In line with the reactivation of aircraft this quarter to 14 operational aircraft, staff costs and maintenance costs had increased; by the end of September 2023, the number of pilots and cabin crew has increased by 40 per cent and 131 per cent respectively, while maintenance cost increased in tandem with higher utilisation of aircraft and further driven by the weakening of the ringgit against the greenback," it noted.
AirAsia X's earnings per share for the quarter came in lower at 1.20 sen compared to 6.00 sen in 3Q22.
For the nine-month period, the airline's net profit slumped to RM339.1 million from RM33 billion a year ago, while revenue increased to RM1.71 billion from RM320.3 million previously.
AirAsia X said the group maintained its momentum in fleet recovery.
Currently operating 14 aircraft out of a robust fleet of 17, the company expects to add one more aircraft, thereby increasing its total fleet size to 18.
"By December 2023, the group expects at least 16 aircraft to be operational. The group continues its course in relaunching its key profitable routes and maintains its focus on the potentials in China as the country's international travel traffic recovers.
"Apart from strengthening the airline's position within markets that it operates in, the group has also recently announced that it will soon service Almaty, Kazakhstan, which is a fresh and strategic route for the airline to expand its reach into other regions of the world," it said.