Sri Lanka Mihin Lanka losses mount, assets negative
June 10, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's state-run Mihin Lanka, a budget carrier, has lost 5.8 billion rupees since it was started in 2007 and it had a 5.6 billion rupee gap in the balance sheet despite capital injections from people's tax money, official data shows.
Mihin Lanka was started by the state despite the country's full service airline, SriLankan Airlines making losses throughout most of its life on airline operations, though its bottomline has been helped by ground handling and catering monopolies. Critics have held up the state budget carrier as a high profile example of tax banditry, arbitrary rule and lack of evidence based policy-making.
Last year the budget airline was operationally linked with SriLankan Airlines, which is also making losses.
A finance ministry report showed that Mihin Lanka's revenues rose to 1.7 billion rupees in 2010 after dipping to only 373 million rupees in 2009. But its lost 1.2 billion rupee in 2010 only slightly lower than the 1.3 billion rupees a year earlier.
Since starting it 2007, the airline has lost 5,877 million rupees. By 2010 its balance sheet showed negative assets of 5,628 million rupees.
According to data the state had injected 2.7 billion rupees from taxes collected from the people as capital to the airline by 2010, adding to 250 million rupees in seed capital and taking the total to 3,004 million rupees.
Data also showed that the Treasury had given guarantees to state banks to give money to the airline.
In November 2009, a 1,552 million rupee guarantee has been given to Bank of Ceylon, a state run bank, on which 1,519 million rupees had been borrowed.
Another guarantee had been given for 252 million rupees, on which 1,771 million had been borrowed.
Mihin Lanka had expanded operations to Kuwait, Bodhgaya and Varanasi adding to Dubai and Trichy.
The finance ministry report said Mihin Lanka has been encouraged to restructure its balance sheet and focus on regional routes, while SriLankan Airlines focuses more on long haul routes.