Which airline should MH buy

[jani 0]

Also, Proton which bought Lotus. Not sure which part/department but that's another story. Hey if you drive a VW now you can put a Porsche batch on it since it's been bought over by Porsche.

 

I honestly have no technical or expert insight into the automobile industry. But on face value, Proton purchasing Lotus seems to have been a great move, no?

 

I think after they bought Lotus, most of the Proton models improved dramatically and most it due to Lotus' expertise.

[Waiping 12]

I honestly have no technical or expert insight into the automobile industry. But on face value, Proton purchasing Lotus seems to have been a great move, no?

 

I think after they bought Lotus, most of the Proton models improved dramatically and most it due to Lotus' expertise.

 

On face value it does look like a good move but what part of Lotus was bought and its uses were a bit unclear. For example immediately after they bought Lotus they put up "Handling by Lotus" for a few models but as you probably noticed it's no longer being used. Maybe they have successfully integrated with what we have. Products did improve, but not necessary dramatically.

[Ja Singh 2]

what does handling by lotus means? sonunds like a marketing gimmick to fool malaysians.Even putting pax side air bag was not mandatory for all proton models,(your life is not our concern). In australasia, where they are pressing on mandatory side air bags, due to brain damage of side impact, it is almost unheard of as far as proton is concerned. Yes all models of hyundai in NZ comes with side air bags, besids the normal ones in the front,no matter how much you pay for the car1 Average price 20K! MAlaysians are being ripped off bt high pricing of inferior products from proton..

[Mohd. Helmi 0]

Sometimes I wonder why Malaysian companies invest in foreign ones when they clearly do not have the management expertise to make these investments work for them. Two examples I can think of are Genting and Maybank - their foreign investments cost them a lot in terms of capital and also loss making operations.

 

Is MAS capable of managing another airline, when it can't even sort itself out?

 

Care to elaborate?

 

The Maybank deal with BII and MCB was overvalued, but that was before the world economy tanked. It's a case of bad timing, but these companies could potentially provide future areas of growth for the group, I believe it's a long run investment strategy. Their foreign investments are not loss making operations, can you support your statement, Maybank Singapore contribute a decent amount to the groups profit (don't believe me, you can download Maybank sg's annual report).

 

Genting groups international expansion I think has been a success, take star cruise for example, the 3rd largest cruise line in the world when they expanded and took Norwegian Cruise Lines, NCL America. It's integrated resort in Singapore could be a success, rather than let other gaming competitors take their Singaporean and Asian clientele, they took the proactive approach.

 

Other Malaysian investments:

 

One of the largest investments into South Africa was when Petronas bought the South Africa's Engen group, It was the largest single investment into the country at the time, and it gave Petronas access to a huge market in southern Africa.

 

As mentioned before when Proton bought Lotus, they provided engineering expertise to Proton.

 

And let's not forget TM, they own a lot of Mobile operators in Asia, but let's just take one example, TM's subsidiary Dialog telekom in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka's largest mobile phone operator, the largest company listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, the first 3G roll out in South Asia.

 

If anything, I think we can be proud of Malaysian investments overseas.

 

[Mohd. Helmi 0]

Back to topic,

 

I think MH should try a get an Indonesia airline, Mandala, Garuda, Sriwijaya. Synergies could be had, there are cultural similarities, huge market, and MH could provide the international feed to points in Indonesia, especially from the EU where Indonesian airlines are still banned.

 

Take a look at how LH bought into other EU airlines, they went across the border only, taking Swiss, Austrian, both German speaking countries and then also Brussels Airline and BMI.

 

MH expansion should follow the footsteps of LH expansion. Buy into the region's airlines first.

 

 

 

I just hope it won't be a repeat of TR's Naluri days. Naluri owned 40% of Royal Air Cambodge and 49% of Air Maldives. MH planes were leased to Royal Air Cambodge until they were bankrupt.

[Isaac 0]

The Maybank deal with BII and MCB was overvalued, but that was before the world economy tanked. It's a case of bad timing, but these companies could potentially provide future areas of growth for the group, I believe it's a long run investment strategy. Their foreign investments are not loss making operations, can you support your statement, Maybank Singapore contribute a decent amount to the groups profit (don't believe me, you can download Maybank sg's annual report).

They should have seen that coming. More like those people involved in the deal are very short-sighted. May be they just want to take over the title "southeast asia largest banking group" from DBS Bank, DUH !

 

 

If anything, I think we can be proud of Malaysian investments overseas.

No doubt there are many successful Malaysian venture overseas but of all the companies in Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines shouldn't even think of eating other airlines now. Please please please solve their own problems first.

 

 

Back to topic,

I think MH should try a get an Indonesia airline, Mandala, Garuda, Sriwijaya. Synergies could be had, there are cultural similarities, huge market, and MH could provide the international feed to points in Indonesia, especially from the EU where Indonesian airlines are still banned.

 

Take a look at how LH bought into other EU airlines, they went across the border only, taking Swiss, Austrian, both German speaking countries and then also Brussels Airline and BMI.

 

MH expansion should follow the footsteps of LH expansion. Buy into the region's airlines first.

I personally think any investment into any Indonesian carriers could be a bad one. While i am aware of the potential of what the Indonesian economy can contribute to one's business but the risk simply is too great.

 

If any airlines in Southeast Asia that can go on a shopping spree it is Singapore Airlines. Not Malaysia Airlines. They couldn't even take care of themselves and they want to take over other airlines already ? That's over-ambitious if you ask me. Besides, still no info on how exactly "Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad" is doing financially ...

Edited April 22, 2009 by Isaac

[KK Lee 5]

Historically, MH’s ventures with foreign airlines have left bad reputation with foreign gomen e.g. Maldives and Cambodia Further, MH is known not for its management excellence. Doubt it’s capability or ability to manage foreign airlines

 

The airline that is more likely to success with foreign venture is AK. However, AK business model call for fresh start and won’t work well with merger.

 

[flee 5]

Mohd. Helmi,

I won't dwell into Maybank, etc. cos that is really off topic. I used them as examples to illustrate the fact that MH should not have thoughts of going on the M&A trail unless they have a competent team to manage those acquisitions. It is better they use the cash for fleet renewal, product improvements, and also to hire professional and competent management personnel.

 

The airline that is more likely to success with foreign venture is AK. However, AK business model call for fresh start and won’t work well with merger.

Well AK did a good job with AWAIR and they have more or less completed their transformation to become Indonesia Air Asia. Now they just need to get rid of the 20+ year old 737's as their new A320's are delivered.