Founder & Managing Director, AIR Control Tower, AIR Control Tower

Neil Glynn

Founder & Managing Director, AIR Control Tower

AIR Control Tower

AIR Control Tower is an independent research and analysis platform. Its mission is to provide impactful insight and analysis across the global airline industry at a company and market level via detailed financial models to aid decision making for key stake holders at a time when risks have seldom, if ever, been higher and the global sector grapples with the imperative of funding de-carbonisation. Unique analysis forecasting global carrier-level earnings/cash flows, and restructuring/de-leveraging prospects, is designed to dynamically assess the health of the industry, predict surprises and identify potential requirements for third party support.

Insights on the global airline industry

Equity Bottom-Up

Virgin Australia Holdings / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>FY23 performance positions VA at the top table relative to global LCC financial performance</li>
<li>Global analysis of #2 positions behind a strong market leaders suggests an efficient VA should be well positioned to sustainably outperform the global airline industry's average financial performance</li>
<li>Forecasting mean reversion for operating performance but aircraft financing savings should sustain superior profitability and cash flow generation than pre-COVID.</li>
</ul>


FY23 performance positions VA at the top table relative to global LCC financial performance
Global analysis of #2 positions behind a strong market leaders suggests an efficient VA should be well positioned to sustainably outperform the global airline industry's average financial performance
Forecasting mean reversion for operating performance but aircraft financing savings should sustain superior profitability and cash flow generation than pre-COVID.


Virgin Australia - Outperforming Most LCCs Globally; Positioned for New Era of Cash Flow Generation

APAC IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Ethan Aw

APAC IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

Skymark Airlines / Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/skymark-airlines-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20430:1" rel="noopener">Skymark Airlines (9204 JP)</a> raised US$242m in its Japan IPO. The shares began to trade on 14th Dec 2022, its six-month lockup will expire on 11th Jun 2023.</li>
<li>Skymark Airlines (SA) is a Japanese low-cost airline, being the third largest domestic airline  according to the company. Unlike major airlines and other low-cost carriers, Skymark operates only domestic flights.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lock-up dynamics and updates since our last note.</li>
</ul>



Skymark Airlines (9204 JP) raised US$242m in its Japan IPO. The shares began to trade on 14th Dec 2022, its six-month lockup will expire on 11th Jun 2023.
Skymark Airlines (SA) is a Japanese low-cost airline, being the third largest domestic airline  according to the company. Unlike major airlines and other low-cost carriers, Skymark operates only domestic flights.
In this note, we will talk about the lock-up dynamics and updates since our last note.


Skymark Airlines Lockup Expiry - Still Doesn’t Seem Cheap with 50% of the Shares Being Unlocked

Founder of Antler Capital

Stanley Tsai, CFA

BOC Aviation | BOCAVI <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/boc-aviation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22689:1" rel="noopener">(2588 HK)</a> 
As a follow-up on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/david-blennerhassett" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:840" rel="noopener">David Blennerhassett</a>'s Smartkarma Original <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/asia-pac-airports-ups-but-mostly-downs" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:51855" rel="noopener">Asia-Pac Airports: Ups, But Mostly Downs</a>, we take a look at BOCAVI, which, in our view, is a compelling alternative to APAC airport operators and airlines as a post-Covid trade.
BOCAVI is a highly geared play on the resumption of air travel. The stock has gone through periods of significant out/underperformance against the APAC airports and airlines and may continue to give investors high beta in either direction. The geographical exposure is broad, but there is a heavy skew towards short-haul flights, which will see the earliest acceleration in passenger traffic.
Management's countercyclical capex expansion increasingly looks like a shrewd bet. At its core, BOCAVI is in the capital management business. Strong liquidity and BOC's explicit backing have allowed the lessor to grow its purchase-and-leaseback portfolio through the depths of the pandemic. While airlines are still hemorrhaging cash, over 99% of BOCAVI's aircraft remain cash-generating.  
We expect the firm's undiscounted committed revenues to top USD20bn in 2021. By year-end, the value of the portfolio will have doubled since 2014. We estimate the present value of this cashflow stream to be HKD72.80/share. We are essentially getting free growth optionality. 
We are buyers at book value. The stock is trading at 8x P/E and 1.1x P/B on a 12M forward basis. BOCAVI is reasonably liquid, with a market cap of USD6bn and average daily turnover of USD3.5mn. Besides the obvious risk of protracted lockdowns globally, a well-functioning USD bond market and BOC's funding support are critical to our investment case.
Attachment: BOCAVI Financial Summary

BOC Aviation | BOCAVI (2588 HK) 
As a follow-up on David Blennerhassett's Smartkarma Original Asia-Pac Airports: Ups, But Mostly Downs, we take a look at BOCAVI, which, in our view, is a compelling alternative to APAC airport operators and airlines as a post-Covid trade.
BOCAVI is a highly geared play on the resumption of air travel. The stock has gone through periods of significant out/underperformance against the APAC airports and airlines and may continue to give investors high beta in either direction. The geographical exposure is broad, but there is a heavy skew towards short-haul flights, which will see the earliest acceleration in passenger traffic.
Management's countercyclical capex expansion increasingly looks like a shrewd bet. At its core, BOCAVI is in the capital management business. Strong liquidity and BOC's explicit backing have allowed the lessor to grow its purchase-and-leaseback portfolio through the depths of the pandemic. While airlines are still hemorrhaging cash, over 99% of BOCAVI's aircraft remain cash-generating.  
We expect the firm's undiscounted committed revenues to top USD20bn in 2021. By year-end, the value of the portfolio will have doubled since 2014. We estimate the present value of this cashflow stream to be HKD72.80/share. We are essentially getting free growth optionality. 
We are buyers at book value. The stock is trading at 8x P/E and 1.1x P/B on a 12M forward basis. BOCAVI is reasonably liquid, with a market cap of USD6bn and average daily turnover of USD3.5mn. Besides the obvious risk of protracted lockdowns globally, a well-functioning USD bond market and BOC's funding support are critical to our investment case.
Attachment: BOCAVI Financial Summary

BOC Aviation (2588 HK): The Stars Don't Look Bigger, but They Do Look Brighter

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>There are no constituent changes for the MVIS Australia Equal Weight Index at the March rebalance. </li>
<li>Float and capping changes will result in a one-way turnover of 4.4% and in a round-trip trade of A$195m.</li>
<li>We had <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lendlease-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11248:1" rel="noopener">Lendlease Group (LLC AU)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/idp-education-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1098:1" rel="noopener">IDP Education (IEL AU)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nib-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7063:1" rel="noopener">nib holdings (NHF AU)</a> as close deletes and they will now have inflows due to capping.</li>
</ul>


There are no constituent changes for the MVIS Australia Equal Weight Index at the March rebalance. 
Float and capping changes will result in a one-way turnover of 4.4% and in a round-trip trade of A$195m.
We had Lendlease Group (LLC AU), IDP Education (IEL AU) and nib holdings (NHF AU) as close deletes and they will now have inflows due to capping.


MV Australia Equal Weight Index Rebalance: Float & Capping Changes to Drive Flow

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/interglobe-aviation-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24877:1" rel="noopener">InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (INDIGO IN)</a>’s co-founder Rakesh Gangwal’s 25%+ stake will be released from lock-up tomorrow.</li>
<li>He had earlier stated his intention to pare down his stake. He has sold shares in Sep 2022, Feb 2023 and Aug 2023.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (INDIGO IN)’s co-founder Rakesh Gangwal’s 25%+ stake will be released from lock-up tomorrow.
He had earlier stated his intention to pare down his stake. He has sold shares in Sep 2022, Feb 2023 and Aug 2023.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


Interglobe Aviation (Indigo) Lockup - Still Has US$3bn+ Stake Left, After Three Prior Selldowns

Australia

Qantas Airways Limited provides transportation of passengers through two airlines including Qantas (full service carrier) and Jetstar (low cost carrier), operating international, domestic and regional services. The Company also includes Qantas Frequent Flyer and Qantas Freight which generates diverse revenue streams and adds value for customers and investors.

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Qantas Airways (QAN AU)

Virgin Australia - Outperforming Most LCCs Globally; Positioned for New Era of Cash Flow Generation

Privately held Virgin Australia is preparing to IPO and our coverage launch is likely to be the only substantive research report, including short...

Neil Glynn

Skymark Airlines Lockup Expiry - Still Doesn’t Seem Cheap with 50% of the Shares Being Unlocked

Skymark Airlines (9204 JP) raised US$242m in its Japan IPO. The shares began to trade on 14th Dec 2022, its six-month lockup will expire on 11th...

Ethan Aw

BOC Aviation (2588 HK): The Stars Don't Look Bigger, but They Do Look Brighter

As downstream players continue to hemorrhage cash, over 99% of BOCAVI’s aircraft are still cash-generating. Valuation is undemanding for a high...

Stanley Tsai, CFA

MV Australia Equal Weight Index Rebalance: Float & Capping Changes to Drive Flow

There are no constituent changes for the index in March but float and capping changes will result in a one-way turnover of 4.4% and in a round-trip...

Brian Freitas

Interglobe Aviation (Indigo) Lockup - Still Has US$3bn+ Stake Left, After Three Prior Selldowns

The founder is now looking up to US$450m via selling around 3.3% of the company. This deal is well flagged although the timing is a few days later...

Sumeet Singh

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