Issue 264: Cathay Pacific

Riding the bumps

I had the pleasure of announcing the half year results for the first half of 2007, and then the full year results which we announced in March 2008, which were the best we’ve ever had, at HK$7bn profit. But of course by then we already knew that 2008 itself was shaping up to be a very difficult year, and indeed it did (prove so) for a whole range of reasons. And 2009 (is) in many ways even more difficult.
How do you manage that rollercoaster? “Hold on tight!”

I’ve been around the industry a long time and I’ve seen ups and downs – this is certainly the worst down that I’ve seen. But if you’ve been around as long as I have you can’t help but know the business quiet well you just know what you have to do. It’s not rocket science, you’ve got to try and defer capital expenditure, you’ve got to try and preserve cash, do other things to make sure you’ve got liquidity and meanwhile reduce costs, snip operations that are costing you money.