Cathay Pacific loses its Hang Seng Index status

Cathay Pacific Airways is losing its decades-old membership of Hong Kong’s benchmark equity gauge as the city’s flagship carrier struggles to revive earnings.

The airline, in which Qatar Airways Ltd just acquired a stake, will be dropped along with Kunlun Energy as part of Hang Seng Index’s quarterly review. Country Garden Holdings, a Chinese property developer, and Sunny Optical Technology Group, an Apple supplier, will replace them on the 50-strong measure, effective December 4th, according to an announcement by the index compiler.

The deletion is the latest blow for Cathay Pacific, founded in 1946, after it was removed from MSCI’s Hong Kong index in May. The airline has lost almost half its market valuation in the past seven years as the carrier battled rising competition from Chinese rivals as well as suffering ill-judged fuel hedges. Rupert Hogg, who took over as chief executive officer this year, has been seeking to cut costs after the airline posted its biggest half-yearly loss in at least two decades.

– Bloomberg