Shares in Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MAS) rose in early Monday trading following a state buyout offer for the floundering company, which has been hit by two air disasters this year.
MAS shares were quoted at 0.25 ringgit ($0.08) at midday, up from 0.24 ringgit on Friday, when the trading of the airline’s stock was suspended due to the buyout announcement from the sovereign wealth fund Khazanah. Shares were trading as high as 0.265 ringgit per share earlier in the day.
Khazanah already owns nearly 70 per cent of MAS.
Under the buyout plan, Khazanah offered to buy the remainder of the firm at a price of 0.27 ringgit per share.
The value of the shares is expected to fall in the second quarter of this year amid expected poor financial results and as a restructuring plan starts to take effect, analysts say.
The airline had already been making a loss before the tragedies involving missing airliner MH370 in March, and MH17, shot down over Ukraine last month.
In 2013, the airline suffered a net loss of $364 million, the third year in a row that the company was in the red. In the first quarter of this year it reported a net loss of $138.55 million.