Founder & Managing Director, AIR Control Tower, AIR Control Tower

Neil Glynn

Founder & Managing Director, AIR Control Tower

AIR Control Tower

AIR Control Tower is an independent research and analysis platform. Its mission is to provide impactful insight and analysis across the global airline industry at a company and market level via detailed financial models to aid decision making for key stake holders at a time when risks have seldom, if ever, been higher and the global sector grapples with the imperative of funding de-carbonisation. Unique analysis forecasting global carrier-level earnings/cash flows, and restructuring/de-leveraging prospects, is designed to dynamically assess the health of the industry, predict surprises and identify potential requirements for third party support.

Insights on the global airline industry

Equity Bottom-Up

Cathay Pacific Airways / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>We publish a deep dive on historical margin management at Cathay Pacific following Bloomberg reports that Air China is considering raising its 29.99% stake.</li>
<li>We see Cathay's consistent underperformance of the global industry as due to structural disadvantages competing against lower cost competitors without the benefit of attractive joint ventures or M&amp;A.</li>
<li>Our deep dive comparing margin generation to ten major global peers highlights weak pricing power without sufficient offset from staff cost/other cost efficiencies as the key problem.</li>
</ul>


We publish a deep dive on historical margin management at Cathay Pacific following Bloomberg reports that Air China is considering raising its 29.99% stake.
We see Cathay's consistent underperformance of the global industry as due to structural disadvantages competing against lower cost competitors without the benefit of attractive joint ventures or M&amp;A.
Our deep dive comparing margin generation to ten major global peers highlights weak pricing power without sufficient offset from staff cost/other cost efficiencies as the key problem.


Cathay Pacific - Reported Air China Interest Prompts Assessment of Structural Disadvantages

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport, Tracking Traffic

Daniel Hellberg

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport

Tracking Traffic

Focusing on Asian logistics, transportation, and travel companies

<ul>
<li>Trip.com reported a strong set of Q4 and FY23 earnings results last week</li>
<li>Company has held the line on SG&amp;A expenses; look for strong H124 growth</li>
<li>We believe shares are cheap and recommend investors buy below US$43/ADS</li>
</ul>


Trip.com reported a strong set of Q4 and FY23 earnings results last week
Company has held the line on SG&amp;A expenses; look for strong H124 growth
We believe shares are cheap and recommend investors buy below US$43/ADS


Trip.com Q4 Quick Take: Strong Top-Line Growth | Impressive Expense Control | And Not Expensive

HK/China Equity Long-Short

Osbert Tang, CFA

<ul>
<li>There is room for FY23 result of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cathay-pacific-airways-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:243:1" rel="noopener">Cathay Pacific Airways (293 HK)</a> to beat market expectations on stronger traffic volume and better yield performance.  </li>
<li>Resumption of more capacity, from 70% of the pre-pandemic level at end-FY23, will drive FY24 earnings with ROE at 12-13%, putting it on an inexpensive 0.65x P/B. </li>
<li>Its associate <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/air-china-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8239:1" rel="noopener">Air China Ltd (H) (753 HK)</a> will also benefit from the release of pent-up demand in the domestic market and the recovery in international travel. </li>
</ul>


There is room for FY23 result of Cathay Pacific Airways (293 HK) to beat market expectations on stronger traffic volume and better yield performance.  
Resumption of more capacity, from 70% of the pre-pandemic level at end-FY23, will drive FY24 earnings with ROE at 12-13%, putting it on an inexpensive 0.65x P/B. 
Its associate Air China Ltd (H) (753 HK) will also benefit from the release of pent-up demand in the domestic market and the recovery in international travel. 


Cathay Pacific (293 HK): Taking off with Momentum

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech, Aequitas Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>We analyse the changes of A-H premium on 146 stocks over the last week. The average A-H premium was 129.8% as of Feb 9th.</li>
<li>The average A-H premium changed by 6.2ppt week-on-week, led by health care, materials, real estate and offset by consumer discretionary, communication services.</li>
<li>We highlight weekly changes in A-H premium for Zijin Mining, Conch Cement, China Vanke, Air China, Shandong Gold, RemeGen, CICC, Shanghai Junshi.</li>
</ul>


We analyse the changes of A-H premium on 146 stocks over the last week. The average A-H premium was 129.8% as of Feb 9th.
The average A-H premium changed by 6.2ppt week-on-week, led by health care, materials, real estate and offset by consumer discretionary, communication services.
We highlight weekly changes in A-H premium for Zijin Mining, Conch Cement, China Vanke, Air China, Shandong Gold, RemeGen, CICC, Shanghai Junshi.


A-H Premium Weekly (Feb 9th): Zijin Mining, Conch Cement, China Vanke, Air China, Shandong Gold

<ul>
<li>By one metric, outbound tourism in December improved to 89% of 2019 levels</li>
<li>Meanwhile, domestic activity in December remained close to pre-Covid levels</li>
<li>In this month's edition we track the tourism recovery in ten illustrative charts</li>
</ul>


By one metric, outbound tourism in December improved to 89% of 2019 levels
Meanwhile, domestic activity in December remained close to pre-Covid levels
In this month's edition we track the tourism recovery in ten illustrative charts


Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | China's 2023 Recovery in Ten Charts | (January 2024)

China

Air China Limited provides passenger, cargo, and airline-related services in China.  The Company is primarily based in Beijing and a major hub for domestic and international air transportation.  Air China's airline-related services include aircraft maintenance, repair, overhaul service, ground services, and in-flight catering services.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

Air China Ltd (A) (601111 CH)

Cathay Pacific - Reported Air China Interest Prompts Assessment of Structural Disadvantages

Deep dive on the root causes of historical CX margin challenges by comparing pre-pandemic margin generation to 10 global airline peers

Neil Glynn

Trip.com Q4 Quick Take: Strong Top-Line Growth | Impressive Expense Control | And Not Expensive

Trip.com reported another strong set of quarterly results last week that featured strong top-line growth and admirable expense control. We suggest...

Tracking Traffic

Cathay Pacific (293 HK): Taking off with Momentum

CX is poised to exceed market expectations with solid traffic and improved yield, leading to further growth in FY24. Air China is also expected to...

Osbert Tang, CFA

A-H Premium Weekly (Feb 9th): Zijin Mining, Conch Cement, China Vanke, Air China, Shandong Gold

We analyzed A-H premium changes in the past week and highlight A-H premium changes for Zijin Mining, Conch Cement, China Vanke, Air China, Shandong...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | China's 2023 Recovery in Ten Charts | (January 2024)

In this insight we document China's ongoing recovery in outbound and domestic tourism demand by sharing with readers ten illustrative charts.

Tracking Traffic

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Cathay Pacific - Reported Air China Interest Prompts Assessment of Structural Disadvantages

Deep dive on the root causes of historical CX margin challenges by comparing pre-pandemic margin generation to 10 global airline peers

Neil Glynn

Trip.com Q4 Quick Take: Strong Top-Line Growth | Impressive Expense Control | And Not Expensive

Trip.com reported another strong set of quarterly results last week that featured strong top-line growth and admirable expense control. We suggest...

Tracking Traffic

Cathay Pacific (293 HK): Taking off with Momentum

​CX is poised to exceed market expectations with solid traffic and improved yield, leading to further growth in FY24. Air China is also expected to...

Osbert Tang, CFA

A-H Premium Weekly (Feb 9th): Zijin Mining, Conch Cement, China Vanke, Air China, Shandong Gold

We analyzed A-H premium changes in the past week and highlight A-H premium changes for Zijin Mining, Conch Cement, China Vanke, Air China, Shandong...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | China's 2023 Recovery in Ten Charts | (January 2024)

In this insight we document China's ongoing recovery in outbound and domestic tourism demand by sharing with readers ten illustrative charts.

Tracking Traffic

CX is poised to exceed market expectations with solid traffic and improved yield, leading to further growth in FY24. Air China is also expected to...