Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) has commenced a share buyback program targeting up to 5% of the carrier's issued capital. The airline has also announced that it will issue USD500 million in bonds to help cover aircraft acquisition costs, working capital and refinancing expenses.
The share buyback scheme, announced in late July 2023, will see the listed entity, Singapore Airlines Limited, repurchase up to 148,711,715 shares, representing up to 5% of the issued share capital. The company has agreed to pay up to 105% of the average trading price over a five-day window on the Singapore bourse before the day on which the repurchase occurs.
The share buyback commenced on March 7, 2024. Publicly available Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) data shows the company has repurchased 1,597,100 shares up until the close of business on March 11. The buyback will continue until the 5% target is met, authorisation is revoked, or when the next annual general meeting takes place.
Meanwhile, on March 15, 2024, Singapore Airlines Limited confirmed via a SGX filing a bonds issue paying a fixed rate of 5.25% per annum. The bonds, worth USD500 million, form part of the company's SGD10 billion Singapore dollar (USD7.48 billion) multicurrency medium-term note program and will fall due on March 21, 2034.
The company will issue the Series 011 Notes priced at 99.646% of their principal amount. The bonds will come in denominations of USD200,000, and in higher integral multiples of USD1,000. Interest is payable semi-annually in arrears. Subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, the notes are expected to be issued on 21 March 2024.
On the same day as it announced the bond issue, the Singapore Airlines Group, which operates both Singapore Airlines and Scoot (TR, Singapore Changi), released its February 2024 traffic figures. The two airlines carried a combined 3.1 million passengers during the month, up 28.2% from a year before. In the three months to December 31, 2023, the company's revenues rose to SGD5.082 billion (USD3.8 billion), the best in its history and the first time it has exceeded SGD5 billion (USD3.74 billion).
As of December 31, the SIA Group operated 202 aircraft, including 52 at Scoot, 143 at Singapore Airlines, and seven freighters. At the time, another 92 aircraft were on order, including two A350-900s, twelve A320-200Ns, six A321-200NX, seven A350Fs, thirty-one B777-9s, twelve B787s, thirteen B737-8s, and nine E190-E2s.
Separately, the MainlyMiles portal reports that Singapore Airlines will use newly delivered B737-8s to start phasing out B737-800s ops from September 2024. The former SilkAir (Singapore Changi) stock have remained in use longer than anticipated because of B737 MAX delivery delays. Singapore Airlines continues to operate seven B737-800s, although two are currently inactive, and the outlet notes that the aircraft will start returning to lessors in September, with the last due back in January 2026. By January 2025, the type will operate around 40 weekly departures from Singapore, compared to 107 in April 2024.
ch-aviation schedules data indicates Singapore Airlines presently deploys the B737-800 on some or all of its services between Singapore, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur International, Penang, and Phuket. MainlyMiles reports that by January 2025, B737-800 flights will decrease to one out of six daily services to Phuket, two out of five daily services to Penang, and three out of eight daily flights to Kuala Lumpur. By January 2025, three B737-800s will have gone back to the lessors, leaving Singapore Airlines with four. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the three -800s due back this year are 9V-MGC (msn 44219), 9V-MGD (msn 44220), and 9V-MGE (msn 44221). All three are on lease from AviLease, and due back in December.
