HNA risk resolution efforts gain traction

Conglomerate HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines, has achieved considerable progress in resolving its liquidity risks, reflected mostly in its efforts to ensure the safety and stability of its overseas assets, financial status and employee welfare, a year after it approached the provincial government for assistance, according to a statement from HNA.

HNA said on Friday that it has reversed the negative impact from the liquidity risks and the global COVID-19 pandemic.

At present, a working group has completed its due diligence work and has formulated a risk resolution plan based on legalization and marketization, said the statement.

The debt-ridden airline group asked the Hainan province for assistance last February after its "self-rescue" efforts failed to completely resolve the risks. The provincial government formed a joint working group, led by Gu Gang, chairman of the board of Hainan Development Holdings Co Ltd and Ren Qinghua, director-general of the Administration Committee of the Yangpu Economic Development Zone.

Both Gu, now executive chairman and board member of HNA, and Ren, current co-CEO and board member of the group, had resigned from their current positions at HNA to help better assist the next phase of risk resolution work, according to the statement.

But they will remain as head and deputy head of the joint working group, which will continue to manage HNA, said the statement.

The working group helped HNA in its efforts to restore employee confidence and in the talks with creditors. By June, HNA had cleared the 2019 salary arrears of all the frontline employees.

At the same time, the working group also spent months streamlining the shareholding structure for the nearly 2,300 enterprises under HNA Group. It is also the first time that there is a clear picture of HNA's assets and debts, said an HNA official who declined to be identified.

The group has completed its overseas assets disposal, resolved major capital risks, protected the interests of creditors and ensured the safety of its overseas assets, according to the working group. Among them, Swissport International Ltd, which provides airport ground services globally, has undergone restructuring. HNA has also signed a contract to sell Ingram Micro, which offers global technology and supply chain services, according to the working group.

The group's financial situation has basically stabilized, as it has gradually and orderly carried out allocations for noncore businesses, said the working group. HNA has alleviated its liquidity situation through relief funds, bond financing and bond restructuring.

By the end of December, Hainan Airlines' daily flight volume had returned to 90 percent of the levels in 2019. The transportation volumes at the three airports in Hainan province have also risen steadily. More than 2,700 Hainan Airlines passenger aircraft were converted into cargo flights since the COVID-19 outbreak, spurring an increase in airfreight businesses.