Tiger Air

Tiger Air: Apr operating data. Tiger carried 331k pax, +4% yoy. However, load factor dropped 4% pts yoy to 83%, on the back of a 9% capacity growth. During the mth, Tiger Singapore began operations to Kochi, India and will commence services to Colombo, Sri Lanka in May ’12. Tiger Australia is planning to commence operations from Sydney, its 2nd Australian base in Jul ’12. While some houses have been optimistic about a recovery at Tiger (recall its latest huge setback involving its Australian flight suspension), we note the recent key mgt departures may lead to higher execution risks. In particular, CEO Chin Yau Seng announced his return to SIA in Feb, after only ~6mth stint with Tiger. Tiger is currently looking for a replacement. Head of Planning and Investor Relations, Raymond Kwan, who was with the co since before IPO, has also recently left to join Sydney Airport. It remains to be seen if Tiger can navigate the increasingly competitive regional LCC landscape, under a new leadership. Tiger was loss making on a trailing 12mth basis, and trades at 2x P/B.