Shares of Starlux soar over 53% on Taiex debut

Taipei, Oct. 25 (CNA) Shares of Starlux Airlines, Taiwan's newest international carrier, staged a rally Friday, surging more than 53 percent on the first day it was listed on the Taiwan stock exchange.

Starlux shares closed up 53.75 percent at NT$30.75 (US$0.96) from its issue price of NT$20 and outperformed the broader market, where the Taiex, the benchmark weighted index, ended up 0.67 percent, at 23,348.45.

The stock opened up almost 30 percent, and its momentum continued to push up the stock to the day's high of NT$32.00, and it remained strong to the end of the session.

It also outperformed the 0.94 percent rise in the transportation sector, under which the airline and its counterparts are traded.

Also on Friday, China Airlines rose 0.90 percent to close at NT$22.35, and EVA Airways gained 0.40 percent to end at NT$37.70.

In Taiwan, a newly listed stock is allowed to go beyond the 10 percent maximum increases or decline in the first five trading sessions.

Starlux, which was set up on May 2, 2018 and flew its maiden flights in 2020, had been listed on the local emerging market since Sept. 30, 2022 before taking its shares to Taiwan's main stock exchange Friday.

In Taiwan a company is required to trade its shares on the emerging market for no less than six months before going to the stock exchange or over-the-counter market.

At Friday's listing ceremony, Starlux Chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said the carrier has entered its second phase of expansion since September, setting its sights on destinations in Europe.

He said his company is planning to add three destinations next year, covering long-haul and short-haul routes.

Starlux Airlines launched direct flights between Taipei and Seattle on Aug. 16. The city is the airline's third destination in the U.S., after Los Angeles and San Francisco.

In September, Chang said the airline was looking to increase flights to L.A. and Seattle, and had also set its sights on other U.S. destinations such as New York, Dallas and Houston.

The carrier is expected to operate 31 routes to 27 destinations worldwide by the end of this year.

Currently, Starlux has a fleet of 24 aircraft which will increase to 26 after the carrier takes delivery of two A350-900s later in 2024, and expected its fleet to expand to 33.

Chang said at the ceremony that the fleet is expected grow to more than 50 planes by 2026, focusing on planes geared to the long-haul flight market.

The next step for the airline will be to add more flights from Taichung and Kaohsiung, Chang said, and it would likely add A320 aircraft to boost the fleet to more than 70 planes to meet those needs.

He said Starlux was upbeat about the transit market through Taiwan, both for the passenger and cargo businesses, highlighting in particular anticipated growth in market demand for cargo services to destinations in Southeast Asian countries and the United States.

Chang said his company is keen to enter the cargo business, and has signed an agreement to buy five A350 cargo planes in early 2024 with an option for an additional five.

Starlux turned a profit for the first time in 2023, when it posted a net profit of NT$149 million, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.08.

In the first half of 2024, the carrier's EPS was NT$0.39, up from NT$0.18 over the same period of last year.

The airline had consolidated sales of NT$9.60 billion in the third quarter, up 58 percent from a year earlier and the highest for any quarter in the company's brief history.

To broaden its international reach, Starlux has announced it will apply to join the global airline alliance Oneworld before the end of 2025.

The Oneworld Alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories.