Med-View Airline (Kano) has become the first airline to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in more than a decade. The carrier was listed by introduction of 9.75 billion ordinary shares at NGN1.5 (USD0.005) per share.
Welcoming Med-View to the bourse, CEO of the NSE Oscar N. Onyema said in a statement that the "listing has added NGN14.65 billion (USD48 million) to the market capitalization of The Exchange, further deepening the Nigerian capital market. It will also increase the visibility of Med-View Airline Plc and differentiate it as a professionally run airline with high corporate governance standards, having met The NSE's listing criteria".
Med-View's listing presentation admits that there has been a significant decline in air travel in Nigeria in the last two years, due to a range of factors such as poor infrastructure and the economic downturn. Its financials show a gross profit of NGN1.6 billion (USD5.25 million) in 2016, down from NGN3.5 billion (USD11.5 million) in 2015. Nevertheless, it is projecting a healthy profit of NGN8 billion (USD26.2 million) in 2017.
Med-View is a scheduled passenger and cargo carrier, which started out as a charter airline for Hajj operations in 2007. Hajj flights now make up about 30% of its passenger traffic. Domestically, it serves Abuja, Enugu, Lagos, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt Awolowo, and Yola, while international destinations include Accra and London Gatwick. Analysis of ch-aviation fleet data shows that Med-View has one B747-400 wet-leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic (CC, Reykjavik Keflavik), one B737-500 and one B767-300 both leased from AerCap, and two B737-400s.
