The financial advisors working on the much delayed sale of State airline TAP have asked for another month before submitting an updated valuation of the company.
Sérgio Monteiro, Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport & Communications commented that "They gave us a preliminary document. The final document should be submitted by the end of May and they asked for more time as it was necessary to collect more information.”
"They asked for time to update the data and from there we are able to make a decision whether to move forward or not to move forward" (with the privatisation,) added Monteiro who gives the first real sign that the whole sale could be shelved indefinitely.
The TAP evaluation should have been delivered to the Government in late April. The failed Efromovich bid in late 2011 and the failure to announce a timetable for privatisation has been noticeable by a government that is obliged to sell the airline under its Troika agreement on asset disposal, yet sees the value of TAP rising yearly as the airline prospers under the management of Fernando Pinto.
Sérgio Monteiro stated that the company is "worth more this year than it has been in previous years. Revenue per seat also is higher which means the company has been generating value," adding that if the airline was privatised it "could generate more if it had a shareholder with the ability to capitalise, the state has no capacity nor legally can do this."
The relaxed attitude to selling off the airline may turn into a formal shelving as the government has never been a convincing or committed seller. The Troika formally leaves town shortly and hence a degree of pressure and scrutiny will be removed.
