KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21- RHB Retail Research expects the second half of the year to be a brighter period for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) with an improvement in revenue.
The research house said the period was traditionally a stronger period for airlines’.
“We believe MAS’ yield is still under pressure but expect its topline to be boosted by the strong load factor, which is in line with the management’s “load-active, yield-passive” strategy.
“The carrier’s second quarter 2013 results and most recent operating statistics reinforce our belief that MAS’ strategy is viable and that its margins should gradually improve,” said RHB Retail Research in a note.
MAS’ operating statistics continued to improve in August, with its eight months 2013 overall load factor rising 4.8 percentage points year-on-year to 76.9 per cent, a new high for the airline since 2002.
Meanwhile, its cargo and freight divisions saw a mild month-on-month decline, but the performance was still in line with RHB’s expectations.
The research house has maintained its “neutral” call on MAS with an unchanged fair value of 34 sen.
– BERNAMA
