Originally Posted by
"Littlebird"
The current CEO Paul, had the airline back on track and trending well before all this Covid business broke out.
The FY20-H1 Interim Report that he handed down in February would roundly contradict that notion; they were the worst half year results since the GFC putting the business on track for a $500 million loss this FY, and that was before the coronavirus crisis had hit.
Here's an inventory of CEO Paul's achievements as at 31 December 2019,
- Paid $700 million for 35 percent of Velocity that had been sold five years earlier for $355 million.
- Funded the Velocity transaction entirely by raising debt; a $750 million notes issue at 8 percent interest.
- In just that single transaction managed to send the net equity of the business underwater (liabilities exceeding assets) to the tune of over $100 million.
- Allowed non-fuel operating costs to go up by over four percent when the business was meant to be cost cutting.
- Saw labour costs go up by 6.5 percent in the course of a 'rightsizing' program that should have been decreasing them by 5.5 percent.
- Knocked nearly 40 percent off the profitability of the domestic operation.
- Managed to spend $2.70 for every dollar of extra revenue gained.
- As noted earlier, delivered the worst half-year result since the GFC that included a 42 percent reduction in EBIT margin.