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Bloomberg
Cathay Pacific Airways is losing its decades-old membership of Hong Kong’s benchmark equity gauge as the city’s flagship carrier struggles to revive earnings. The airline will be dropped along with Kunlun Energy Co. as part of Hang Seng Indexes Co.’s quarterly review.
Country Garden Holdings Co., a Chinese property developer, and Sunny Optical Technology Group Co., an Apple Inc. supplier, will replace them on the 50-strong measure, effective from December 4, according to an announcement by the index compiler.
The deletion is the latest blow for Cathay Pacific, founded in 1946, after it was removed from MSCI Inc.’s Hong Kong index in May. The airline has lost almost half its market valuation in the past seven years as the carrier battled rising competition from Chinese rivals as well as suffering ill-judged fuel hedges. Rupert Hogg, who took over as CEO this year, has been seeking to cut costs after the airline posted its biggest half-yearly loss in at least two decades. Hong Kong conglomerate Swire Pacific Ltd., is the largest shareholder of Cathay with 45 percent.