AirAsia accounting, cash flow questioned in GMT report

AirAsia Bhd.’s accounting and cash flow were questioned by research firm GMT Research, which said it’s in discussions with the region’s biggest budget carrier about its concerns.

The June 10 report questioned the airline’s “accounting, profit generation, cash-flow issues, leverage and group structure,” GMT Research’s founder Gillem Tulloch said in an e- mail Friday.

The report is currently available only for the researcher’s subscribers and the firm can publicly discuss the matter only from June 24, it said.

AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes declined to comment.

Shares of AirAsia and its long-haul affiliate AirAsia X Bhd. plunged in Kuala Lumpur trading Thursday on record volumes in reaction to the GMT report, Malayan Bank Bhd. analyst Mohshin Aziz said Friday.

Sepang, Malaysia-based AirAsia’s stock slumped as much as 5 percent Friday in Kuala Lumpur, while AirAsia X shares declined as much as 2.2 percent.

“AirAsia’s accounts are transparent,” Mohshin said in a Friday report. Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the airline’s auditor, approved the 2014 accounts of the airline without any qualification, Mohshin said.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers in Malaysia declined to comment on the report in an e-mailed response, citing client confidentiality.

GMT Research is an accounting research firm licensed by Hong Kong’s Securities & Futures Commission, not a short seller, the firm said on its website. GMT, along with Iceberg Research and short seller Muddy Waters criticized commodity trader Noble Group Ltd.’s accounting practices earlier this year.

Tune Air Sdn. is the largest shareholder of AirAsia, controlling 19.1 percent of the stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tune Group Sdn. is the biggest shareholder of AirAsia X, with 10.2 percent. AirAsia held 7.9 percent of AirAsia X.