Four of five directors who resigned after Bamboo Airways (QH, Hanoi Noi Bai International) released audited details of its record 2022 after-tax loss will be re-elected to the airline's board. The carrier will officially announce the VND17.6 trillion dong (USD747.8 million) for the twelve months to December 31, 2022, at its annual general meeting on June 21, when it will also re-elect directors.
The directors who have tendered their resignations include the airline's chairman, Nguyen Ngoc Trong, as well as Doan Huu Doan, Le Ba Nguyen, Le Thai Sam. and Nguyen Manh Quan. However, Bamboo's major shareholders, including Le Thai Sam (who holds a 38.28% stake) and Doan Huu Doan (who has a 16.85% stake), have put forward a list of eligble new directors. Both gentlemen renominated themselves for re-election as well as Nguyen Ngoc Trong and Le Ba Nguyen, leaving Nguyen Manh Quan out in the cold.
According to the Thuong Truong outlet, also set to join the enlarged seven-person board is Phan Dinh Tue, who is on the board of the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), the lesser known Tran Hoa Binh, and Hideki Oshima, the former director of international relations at JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda).
Bamboo's supervisory board will get three new members, including Nguyen Dang Khoa, Nguyen Bich Ngoc, and Nguyen Thi Huu. Former Japan Airlines' chairman Masaru Onishi will become a senior advisor to the board of directors. The two Japan Airlines alumni appeared on the scene after Bamboo's parent company, FLC Group and its chairman, sold down their stakes in the airline to an undisclosed investor earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Bamboo Airways is attributing the dismal financial result to sluggish passenger demand across Northeast Asia and high fuel prices attributed to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Contributing to the 2022 result was a more than 80-fold increase in administrative expenses at the carrier, which rose from VND158 billion (USD6.7 million) in 2021 to VND12.749 trillion (USD541.7 million) in 2022. The latest audited financial results also reveal a provision of VND12.5 trillion (USD531.1 million) for long and short-term bad debts. The outgoing board says this provision is part of the airline's attempt to clean up its balance sheet to better reflect its true situation.
Liabilities increased by VND8.7 trillion (USD370 million) throughout 2022 to VND18.8 trillion (USD800 million). The airline finished 2022 with negative equity of VND835 billion (USD35.5 million). As of December 31, 2022, Bamboo's negative equity figure stood at VND16.78 trillion (USD710 million).
Bamboo Airways is a privately owned joint stock company that began operations in 2019. It has since become one of Viet Nam's biggest airlines, flying to 33 destinations in 11 countries. ch-aviation fleets data indicates the airline operates 30 aircraft, including six A320-200s, six A320-200Ns, four A321-200s, four A321-200Ns, two A321-200NXs, three B787-9s, and five ERJ 190-100LRs.
Despite its loss, Bamboo Airways maintains that it will stick to its 10% plus growth plan this year. It plans to do this by increasing frequencies on existing routes, opening new routes, and adding up to six narrowbody aircraft.
