Saudi Arabian Airlines has invited expressions of interest for the sale of up to 49% in its cargo unit which it expects to complete by the end of 2007, a senior company official said on Saturday.
“We started the privatisation process of the cargo unit by seeking expressions of interest and we will soon publish details of the sale on local and international newspapers,” said Fahd Hamad, the firm’s vice-president for cargo.
“We will sell a minority stake in the cargo unit. It should be completed by the last quarter of 2007,” he told Reuters. Hamad said the size of the stake could reach 49%.
The airline’s cargo unit is one of the three largest in the Middle East, Hamad said. It generated a turnover of 1.5 billion riyals in 2006 ($400 million), up 5% over the previous year, he said.
Its net profit reached 270 million riyals in 2005, Hamad added. He did not give a profit figure for 2006.
The unit employs 1,680 people and has six aircraft including four MD-11 and two Boeing 747s, one of which is leased, he said.
Cargo is the second of five units the airline offered for privatisation. Earlier this month, it completed the sale of a 49% stake in its catering unit for at least 1.4 billion riyals. The airline has yet to announce winner of the catering sale tender and the final amount of the sale.
The airline plans to sell a stake in its core passenger transport business once it completes the privatisation of the five units, which also include maintenance, ground services and pilots training.
It plans to split its passenger transport business into five units within the next 18 months ahead of its privatisation.
Follow us on
