NOK’s Signature Move to Survive – “Capital Increase”

Repeated losses have made Nok Airlines Public Company Limited (NOK) sink into a slump since 2014, and the only survival method to save its life is to increase capital over and over.

In the third quarter of 2018, the equity of NOK’s shareholders was 50% less than the paid-up capital, which resulted in a “C” caution sign, given by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

 

There were only two options for NOK at that time, which were whether to increase its capital or sell its business. The capital increase seems to be NOK’s signature move in this kind of situation. And this time as well, NOK chose to increase its capital after two increments in 2017.

Both capital increases and the plummet in NOK’s shares had caught “Jurangkul Group’s eye,” which led to consequences of buying from the group. Currently, Mr. Natthapol Jurangkul holds 23.77%, Mr. Taweechat Jurangkul holds 18.49% and Mr. Hatairat Jurangkul holds 12.23%, totaling 54.95% from the group. Meanwhile, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) holds about 21.8% of stake.

 

When the business in 2018 does not seem to be any better, the third capital increase was announced on December 21, 2018 for ฿908.80 million shares to rights offering at ฿2.75/share. This will decide whether Jurangkul Group would be able to have full control in NOK as its portion was already above 50%.

If THAI decides not to put any fund in this capital increase, its stake would be reduced and Jurangkul Group would likely be the one to stay on top of the major shareholders’ list. We will have to wait and see if THAI is willing to save its little bird or not when its business is not any better than the children’s.

 

However, after this third capital increase, is there really a way for NOK to survive in this struggle?