TAP Air Portugal (TP, Lisbon) is planning to go public in 2020, chief executive Antonoaldo Neves has announced.
According to the Sapo news agency, Neves told a media gathering outlining the airline's 2018 financials that a 15-30% stake would be offered up to the public.
"We are preparing the company to be ready for an IPO next year. But its the market that defines when an IPO takes place," he said.
According to the head of TAP SGPS, the market is not always "hungry", so it is difficult to speculate about the listing's exact timing.
TAP is owned by the Portuguese government with a 50% stake followed by the Atlantic Gateway consortium with 45% and employees with 5%.
TAP reported losses of EUR118 million euros (USD133.57 million) in 2018 of which about EUR95 million (USD107.54 million) were attributed to non-extraordinary costs including fuel prices, and costs related to restructuring and compensation to passengers.
