MANILA – Philippine budget airline, Cebu Pacific, has postponed its initial public offering indefinitely to avoid the current turmoil in the stock markets, a company statement said yesterday.

The airline's operator Cebu Air, owned by conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc, was to sell up to 135.5 million shares and was looking at a maximum offer price of P95 ($2.30) per share.

UBS AG had been tapped as the sole international underwriter and bookrunner for the IPO.

"Cebu Air, in consultation with JG Summit and UBS, has decided to postpone its initial public offering until further notice, given the extreme volatility in global equity markets," Cebu Air told the Philippine Stock Exchange.

"Despite positive feedback regarding the company from international and domestic investors during the management roadshow, the time and execution of the IPO has been overtaken by global economic concerns," it said.

Cebu Air was supposed to list on the local bourse on February 8 after the IPO.

The share offer plan had been expected to raise P6.6 billion for the company and P5.8 billion for the selling shareholders, including JG Summit.

Cebu Air planned to use the proceeds to fund its re-fleeting programme, replenish its working capital, as well as serve its other general corporate purposes.

Cebu Air said its expansion plans are "not at risk as a result of this postponement in its listing."

"The company has every intention of returning to the public markets once market conditions permit," it said.

Cebu Pacific was established in 1996 and began international operations in 2001. It now has a fleet of 15 Airbus planes and flies to several locations in Asia including Hong Kong, Xiamen and Guangzhou .*AFP

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