Virgin Australia deal flurry highlights
维珍澳洲航空能否抓住中国机遇？
广州航空翻译公司：为应对财务紧张，澳大利亚第二大航空公司引入了两个中国新股东。雄心勃勃的中国投资者，能助其扭转危局吗？
Virgin Australia’s chief executive, John Borghetti, faced a crisis a few months ago when a major shareholder tried to oust him over his refusal to rein in the airline’s expensive growth strategy.
几个月前，维珍澳洲航空(Virgin Australia)的首席执行官约翰•博尔盖蒂(John Borghetti)遇到了一场危机，由于他不肯停止导致高昂代价的增长战略，一个大股东试图把他赶下台。广州航空翻译公司。
The 60-year-old executive survived the attempted boardroom coup, and last week delivered a strong riposte: a A$1bn capital raising to repair the airline’s parlous balance sheet, and two new Chinese shareholders — HNA Group and Nanshan Group.
“董事会政变”未遂，这位60岁的首席执行官很快做出了有力的还击：维珍澳洲航空将融资10亿澳元，以修补岌岌可危的资产负债表，同时引入两个中国股东——海航集团(HNA Group)和南山集团(Nanshan Group)。广州航空翻译公司。
“I’m definitely sticking around,” Mr Borghetti told reporters on a conference call.
博尔盖蒂在一次电话会议上告诉记者：“我肯定会留下来。”
Air
发动维珍澳洲航空董事会解雇博尔盖蒂的新西兰航空公司(Air New Zealand)，现在将出售所持22.5%股权中的大部分。维珍澳洲航空是澳大利亚第二大航空公司。广州航空翻译公司。
The flurry of deals will ensure Virgin remains a viable competitor to Qantas Airways, which retains 63 per cent of the domestic market. They also reflect the international ambitions of Chinese airlines, which are seeking partners to exploit a tourism boom that saw 100m Chinese travel overseas last year.
这一系列交易有助确保维珍澳洲航空仍将是澳航(Qantas)的有力竞争对手，后者在澳大利亚国内市场占据着63%份额。这些交易还突显中国航空公司的国际雄心，它们正在寻找合作伙伴，以利用中国的出境游热潮。去年中国出境游人次达到1亿。广州航空翻译公司。
“There remains a significant growth opportunity for Chinese and Australian carriers“ on international and domestic routes, says Anthony Moulder, analyst at Citi. “Chinese visitor numbers to
花旗(Citi)分析师安东尼•莫尔德(Anthony Moulder)表示，“中国和澳大利亚的航空公司仍面临着巨大的增长机遇”，不管是在国际航线还是在国内航线。他表示：“到2030年，中国赴澳大利亚游客数量将增加3倍，达到每年400万人次。”广州航空翻译公司。
Just a day after announcing the agreement to sell a 13 per cent stake to HNA, Virgin applied to operate daily flights between Australian cities and Beijing and Hong Kong starting in June 2017, as part of a strategic alliance with the Chinese group that owns Hainan Airlines,
在宣布与海航达成出售13%股权协议的次日，维珍澳洲航空申请从2017年6月起运营澳大利亚国内城市至北京和香港的每日航班，这是双方战略合作的一部分。海航集团旗下拥有海南航空公司(Hainan Airlines)，按飞机数量计算是中国第四大航空公司。
“China is the future for inbound travel and this secures our future,” Mr Borghetti told reporters.
博尔盖蒂告诉记者：“中国是入境游的未来，这将保障我们的未来。”
Since joining in 2010 from Qantas, where he was passed over for the top job in favour of Alan Joyce, Mr Borghetti has transformed Virgin from a budget carrier into a full-service airline competing directly with the “Flying Kangaroo”.
博尔盖蒂早前在澳航工作，在角逐首席执行官位置中输给艾伦•乔伊斯(Alan Joyce)，于2010年加入维珍澳洲航空，将其从一家廉价航空公司转变为一家与“飞行袋鼠”澳航直接竞争的全业务航空公司。
This strategy has benefited Australian consumers, who have enjoyed lower domestic airfares in a duopoly market. But the bitter capacity war with Qantas has pushed up Virgin’s net debt to about A$2bn, while failing to deliver sustainable profits.
这一战略令澳大利亚消费者受益，他们在这个双头垄断市场享受着较低的国内票价。但与澳航激烈的运力大战导致维珍澳洲航空的净债务增加至20亿澳元左右，同时未能实现可持续利润。
Virgin reported an underlying loss before tax of A$18.6m for the three months through March — albeit a 16 per cent improvement on the same period a year ago. Even with its latest cash injection, S&P warns the group has only a “limited financial buffer” against factors such as volatile fuel prices, foreign exchange movements and variable passenger demand.
该公司公布，截至3月的季度，基本税前亏损为1860万澳元，不过较去年同期减少16%。即便获得最新的注资，标准普尔(S&P)也警告称，维珍澳洲航空在应对燃油价格波动、汇率变动以及乘客需求不稳定等因素方面的“缓冲资金有限”。
Up to now costs have largely been borne by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and Air New Zealand, which together own 85 per cent of the carrier. Chinese shareholders HNA and Nanshan, both privately owned diversified conglomerates, will now share the burden.
目前，这些代价基本由理查德•布兰森(Richard Branson)的维珍集团(Virgin Group)、新加坡航空(Singapore Airlines)、阿联酋阿提哈德航空公司(Etihad Airways)以及新西兰航空承担，它们共持有维珍澳洲航空85%股权。中国股东——业务多元化的民营企业海航和南山——今后将与它们共同承担。
“This is good news for a cash-strapped Virgin, which will gain the support of Chinese shareholders with a long-term view,” says Peter Harbison, executive chairman at Capa, the aviation consultancy.
航空咨询机构亚太航空中心(Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation)执行董事长彼得•哈比逊(Peter Harbison)表示：“这对于资金紧张的维珍澳洲航空而言是个好消息，该公司将获得有着长远目光的中国股东的支持。”
While Virgin’s restructuring will not solve the “revolving door” nature of its share register, it will remove aggravated shareholder Air New Zealand from its “stamp collection” of stakeholders, he says.
他表示，尽管维珍澳洲航空的重组不会解决其股东登记的“旋转门”特点，但它将把被激怒的股东新西兰航空公司从股东“集邮册”中剔除。
Etihad has yet to commit to taking part in the A$852m rights issue that forms the backbone of Virgin’s capital raising. Analysts say the Abu Dhabi-based carrier may not feel it has to stump up the cash to maintain its 22 per cent stake in Virgin in order to achieve its main strategic objective — blocking a takeover bid for the Australian carrier by a key competitor, Singapore Airlines.
阿联酋阿提哈德航空公司尚未承诺参与8.52亿澳元的股票增发计划，该计划是维珍澳洲航空这轮融资的主体部分。分析人士表示，这家总部位于阿布扎比的航空公司可能并不认为，要实现其主要战略目标——阻止关键竞争对手新加坡航空公司向维珍澳洲航空发起收购——就必须出资维持其在维珍澳洲航空的22%股权。广州航空翻译公司。
长期以来，新加坡航空一直渴望获得一家澳洲航空公司的多数股权，根据亚太航空中心的数据，澳大利亚市场为其贡献五分之一左右的营收。
Mr Harbison says Singapore Airlines would be the most disappointed by Virgin’s tie-up with HNA, as it provides an alternative for the Australian airline to expand into
哈比逊表示，对于维珍澳洲航空与海航的合作，最为失望的要数新加坡航空，因为它会为这家澳大利亚航空公司进军中国提供另一种选择。
“Singapore was blindsided by the HNA deal,” he says.
他表示：“维珍澳洲航空与海航的这笔交易让新加坡航空猝不及防。”
Some analysts reckon Virgin’s success in attracting Chinese capital could spur interest from tier-one Chinese airlines in building a stake in Qantas, which has a joint venture partnership with China Eastern and a code share agreement with
一些分析人士认为，维珍澳洲航空成功吸引中国资本，可能激起中国一线航空公司入股澳航的兴趣，后者目前与中国东方航空公司(China Eastern)成立了一家合资公司，并与中国南方航空公司(China Southern)签定了代码共享协议。
“China Eastern could protect its long-term interests in the current joint venture by taking a position in Qantas,” says Paul Butler, analyst at Credit Suisse.
瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)分析师保罗•巴特勒(Paul Butler)表示：“东航可能会通过入股澳航，保护其在当前合资企业中的长期利益。”
Foreign ownership in Qantas currently stands at 44 per cent, which would permit a strategic overseas investor to buy a further 5 per cent of shares, says Credit Suisse. Foreign ownership in the carrier is capped by the government at 49 per cent.
瑞信表示，澳航的外资持股比例目前为44%，海外战略投资者还可以买入5%股权。按照澳大利亚政府规定，澳航的外资持股上限为49%。
Qantas would not be drawn on whether it would welcome a Chinese strategic investor. But Gareth Evans, chief executive of Qantas International, told the Financial Times he was not concerned about a competitive threat from Virgin’s tie-up with HNA and Nanshan.
澳航不会透露它是否欢迎中国战略投资者。但澳航国际(Qantas International)首席执行官加雷思•埃文斯(Gareth Evans)告诉英国《金融时报》，他并不担心维珍澳洲航空与海航和南山合作所带来的竞争威胁。
“We’ve done a lot of work on having the right relationships in China,” he said. “The growth potential is tremendous.”
“我们在与中国建立良好关系方面做了很多工作，”他表示，“增长潜力是巨大的。”
