Less than a week before posting a surprise TWD2.46 billion Taiwanese new dollar (USD83.7 million) net profit after tax for the second quarter, China Airlines (CI, Taipei Taoyuan) said it planned to inject TWD2 billion (USD68 million) in equity into its struggling low-cost subsidiary Tigerair Taiwan (IT, Taipei Taoyuan).

In an August 6 stock exchange filing, China Airlines, which owns 69.45% of the budget carrier, said the cash was a “long-term equity investment”.

The investment requires a follow-up resolution by Tigerair Taiwan’s board of directors, who will confirm the number of shares to be issued and the price per share, according to the filing.

Tigerair Taiwan debuted its shares on the Taipei Exchange’s Emerging Stock Board in December 2019. It operates a fleet of eleven A320-200s, six of which are currently active and ten of which are leased, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.

China Airlines announced its second-quarter results on August 11, posting its highest quarterly profit since the fourth quarter of 2017 despite recording 96% fewer passengers than the same period last year. Its cargo business made up for the loss in revenue. The result followed a TWD3.77 billion (USD128 million) loss for the first quarter.

China Airlines operates eighteen B747-400FSCD freighters along with twenty-three A330-300s, fourteen A350-900s, nineteen B737-800s, four B747-400s, and ten B777-300ERs.

In related news, China Airlines revealed in another stock exchange filing on August 6 that it would issue a TWD6 billion (USD204 million) bond, its seventh unsecured domestic convertible bond. Each denomination will be set at TWD100,000 (USD3,400), the issue period is five years, and "repayment of loans" was stated as the purpose of the proceeds.