ADQ taps banks for Etihad Airways’ potential listing

Etihad

ADQ, the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund, has tapped advisers, including Citigroup, HSBC Holdings and First Abu Dhabi Bank, for a potential initial public offering of Etihad Airways.

Rothschild & Co. will act as an independent financial adviser, Bloomberg reported, citing informed sources.

The fund may add more banks later, they said.

• ADQ explores potential listing of Etihad Airways
• Etihad outsources flights as airlines grapple with jet shortage
• Etihad predicts ‘remarkable’ year after profitable 2023

In 2022, Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs transferred ownership of Etihad Airways to ADQ to boost the emirate’s status as a transport hub.

Earlier this month, Etihad reported a more than fivefold increase in net profit to AED525 million ($143 million) in 2023, helped by a 40 percent increase in passengers and AED20.3 billion in revenues.

The emirate’s state-owned airline gave staff a heads-up about its 2023 financial performance in an internal memo sent on January 25, AGBI reported last month. 

The airline carried 14 million passengers, resulting in a 31 percent rise in passenger revenue to AED16.6 billion.

The passenger load factor, which measures how efficiently an airline fills available seats, rose to 86 percent from 82 percent in 2022.