Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) raised its authorised capital stock from PHP13 billion pesos (USD256 million) to PHP30 billion (USD592 million) on February 18, its parent PAL Holdings confirmed in a stock exchange disclosure the following day.
The move, approved at a meeting by a majority of the company's stockholders, is part of a strategy to sustain profitability and maintain competitiveness, local media reported Philippine Airlines' president and chief operating officer Gilbert Santa Maria as saying.
PAL Holdings, which also owns PAL Express (2P, Manila Ninoy Aquino International), also said in the filing that Chinese Filipino billionaire Lucio Tan had taken over as group president, replacing his namesake son who died in November 2019. The position is concurrent with Tan's existing role as chairman. Also, the number of directors at PAL Holdings will increase from nine to eleven.
In November, PAL Holdings posted a net loss of PHP7.86 billion (USD155 million) for the first nine months of 2019, a steep fall from the PHP3.29 billion (USD65 million) loss for the same period in 2018. The company blamed the result on an 8.8% rise in maintenance costs, among other factors. In January 2019, ANA - All Nippon Airways (NH, Tokyo Haneda) acquired a 9.5% stake in PAL Holdings for USD95 million.
