Boris Johnson’s government would be looking for ways to take a stake in UK airlines such as Virgin, Easyjet or British Airways. Last weekend, the Financial Times said the British government intended to inject millions of pounds in exchange for shares in the companies. These would later be sold to private investors, just as the US government did with firms from various sectors during the 2008 financial crisis.
The main problem is that British Airways is part of the IAG group, based in Spain.
Another formula flagged by the newspaper is that if Iberia also needs help, the UK and Spanish governments could jointly agree on a bailout at the IAG level. This operation would dilute the participation of the main shareholders, led by Qatar (25.1% of the capital).
In principle, Renta4 analysts believe it is premature to take these measures. They also have confidence in the group’s plans to reduce costs and investments, recalling it has 9.3 billion euros in liquidity.
