GA 2000 public offering to dilute govt stake - Jagdeo Stabroek News January 14, 2000 President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday confirmed that the government will favourably consider a public offering of Guyana Airways (GA) 2000 shares to make the company better capitalised because that is what is required. President Jagdeo was at the time responding to questions about the meeting he had had with key officials of the six-month-old privatised airline. While refusing to disclose all the issues discussed at the meeting, President Jagdeo told a press conference yesterday that what was being contemplated would involve a dilution of the holdings of the present shareholders. Government has a 49% stake in the company and Aviation Investments, a consortium led by the Aircraft Owners Association of Guyana has the remainder of the company's stock. Commenting on a related issue, President Jagdeo said that he was pleased with the fortunes generally of all the companies which had been privatised, though there were specific areas in which the performance was not as expected. However, he stressed that most of the companies privatised had not been in operation at the time of privatisation. The reduction of the drain on the public purse was a factor to be taken into consideration when dealing with the performance of the successor companies. A report in the Guyana Chronicle earlier this week suggested that GA 2000 was cash-strapped and that it had racked up a $800 million loss between July and December 1999. However, GA 2000 chairman, Yesu Persaud, told an editors' briefing on Wednesday that the report was inaccurate. He said that the company had made a loss but not the horrendous one reported. Persaud said that notwithstanding the problems of starting up a new airline, GA 2000 had done exceptionally well, capturing close to 60% of the market on two lucrative North American routes. He had also announced at the briefing the approval for the public issue and hinted that two other investors who had initially indicated an interest in participating in the venture could well be invited to do so now. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples