Garuda Lauded for Picking Deputy Chief Who Helped Reveal Scandal
Garuda Lauded for Picking Deputy Chief Who Helped Reveal Scandal
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Indonesia’s scandal-ridden flag carrier won praise from analysts for its leadership overhaul, with its new CEO getting support from a lieutenant who was among those criticizing the airline’s accounting practices.
The appointment of Deputy Chief Executive Officer Dony Oskaria, who will help run PT Garuda Indonesia alongside CEO Irfan Setiaputra, raised the expectation the state-backed company will be able to execute its recovery plan, said aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman. Oskaria’s appointment was part of leadership changes announced Wednesday.
Oskaria, 50, is a long-time executive at CT Corp., a conglomerate owned by Chairul Tanjung, a businessman and Indonesia’s former economy minister, who holds 26% of Garuda. Oskaria and Tanjung’s brother Chairal Tanjung were two members of Garuda’s board of commissioners who refused to sign its erroneous 2018 accounts, which the carrier was later forced to restate and received fines for.
“Oskaria’s appointment as deputy CEO looks like a good sign, and it is important for Garuda to have non-government shareholder interest being represented in the BoC and the BoD,” said Soejatman. “This will ensure Garuda taking the right steps to sustain its profitability.”
Garuda Says 2018 Was a Loss Not a Profit as Woes Mount
While the executive roster might give comfort to investors, many will closely scrutinize the airline’s strategy in the months ahead, according to Fahressi Fahalmesta, an analyst at PT Ciptadana Sekuritas Asia.
“I like the current lineup in the company, although we still have to see how they want to run the company going forward,” Fahalmesta said. “As long as they are not trying to please the public by slashing the airfares and keep the current momentum going, it would be very good for Garuda.”
Shares of Garuda are down 14% so far this year after surging 67% last year, the best performance since they were listed in 2011.
To contact the reporter on this story: Harry Suhartono in Jakarta at hsuhartono@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen, Thomas Kutty Abraham
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