AirAsia Bhd’s initial public offering (IPO) in Indonesia has been delayed to the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year, group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said today.

“The IPO is still in the process of getting all the regulatory approvals and getting the book right and this is taking a bit of time,” he told reporters after being interviewed by Business FM radio in Kuala Lumpur.

The IPO was originally planned for the third quarter of this year.

Fernandes said the delay was not because of the current market condition in Indonesia.

He said AirAsia X was listed during weak market conditions but the low-cost carrier believed that it did the right thing.

“We are going to be there (Indonesia) for a long-term, prices can go up or down but value of the company doesn’t go away.

“If the company does the right thing and gets good results, the share price will go up,” he added.

AirAsia, which has a 49 percent stake in PT Indonesia AirAsia, relocated its headquarters to Jakarta from Kuala Lumpur last year to capitalise on the growing travel demand in the world’s fourth most populated country.

The budget carrier, which originally planned to raise US$200 million through the IPO by offering 20 percent of AirAsia Indonesia shares, shelved the plan in July last year.

It later changed its focus to acquire a stake in Batavia Air, a small Indonesian carrier, only to pull out three months later, citing that the acquisition was too risky and would dilute its earnings.

- Bernama