KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) has denied hiring or giving a mandate to United States investment bank Goldman Sachs to guide its long-term business plan (LTBP 2.0) over the next five years.
MAG group chief executive officer Izham Ismail said the entire plan – which was formulated in 2018 and implemented in 2019 – is purely driven by the association without any external hiring.
“It is all false. The long-term plan is credible, and we re-based it with the ground zero of 2020.
“There was no consultant or anyone else helping us; we were on our own, except for when we needed advisers for the capital financial restructuring part.
“We had advisers for just that portion, to help and tell us (what to do).”
Izham was commenting on an article by an aviation consultant that stated Goldman Sachs will help chart MAG’s future direction and recovery efforts.
Under the LTBP 2.0 which was launched today, MAG aims to break-even financially and be cash positive by 2023 amidst a subdued market, with recovery expected to take place only in 2022/2023.
The aviation group intends to have a more diversified portfolio, with digital and travel-solution businesses playing a more pivotal role in driving growth for it going forward.
It will expand its fleet size to 83 by 2025 from 69, with more Boeing 737-800 aircraft for regional and Asia Pacific market growth. – Bernama, May 4, 2021
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