Etihad Airways is moving to raise its stake in Virgin Australia after getting the green light from regulators to increase its 10 per cent share in Australia's second-biggest carrier.
It signals the importance of the carrier to Etihad in generating traffic between Australasia and Europe through its Abu Dhabi base.
"We applied for and received Foreign Investment Review Board approval to increase our previous stake of 10 per cent in Virgin Australia to 19.9 per cent," Etihad said in a statement. "We may purchase shares to increase our shareholding where it is prudent to do so, and will provide notice in accordance with regulatory disclosure requirements."
In little more than a year, Etihad has steadily built up its stake in Virgin Australia after announcing in June last year that it had paid US$35.6 million for a 3.96 per cent share in the airline.
The Etihad chief executive and president James Hogan was quoted as telling The Australian newspaper this week that the airline had been buying shares on the market in the past fortnight.
Buying activity in Virgin Australia's shares has been frenzied in recent months. Singapore Airlines doubled its share in the airline to close to 20 per cent by purchasing $123m of shares from Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
That was followed last month by another large shareholder, Air New Zealand, raising its share to 22.99 per cent and saying it was asking regulator approval to raise the stake by a further three percentage points.
Etihad has been on a global acquisition spree in the past two years by buying up equity in international carriers in an effort to gain market share. In addition to Virgin Australia, it holds a 29 per cent stake in Germany's airberlin, 40 per cent in Air Seychelles and 3 per cent in Ireland's Aer Lingus.
It is also expected to announce a deal towards the end of the month to buy a stake in Serbia's Jat Airways. Reports in local media suggest the Serbian government will accept Etihad's proposal to acquire a 49 per cent stake and take over operational control of the airline.
The two airlines last month signed a codeshare agreement and a memorandum of understanding to discuss an equity investment in the Serbian carrier.
"The UAE flag carrier will be able to use Jat to increase its presence significantly in the EX-YU region [countries of the former Yugolslavia] and offer connections via Abu Dhabi to destinations throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific," the Centre for Aviation, an aviation research company, said in a report released yesterday.
"The feed from Etihad should allow Jat to expand in these markets, giving it an important competitive advantage over other carriers from the region."
Etihad believes its equity alliances can save money through joint initiatives covering pilot and crew training, fuel insurance, and procurement and maintenance agreements for common aircraft engine types. The deals are also beginning to contribute to Etihad's bottom line. Revenue generated by codeshare and equity-alliance partners was $184m in the second quarter, 25 per cent higher than the $147m during the same period last year, it said last week.
The airline this week announced a codeshare partnership with Korean Air, its 46th such deal with an international airline.
tarnold@thenational.ae
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
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There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
Company%20Profile
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How Sputnik V works
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
Company%20Profile
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In The Heights
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Stars: Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manual Miranda
Rating: ****
