Investment Research Analysis Risk Management Ana Airline

ANA Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries provide air transportation services in Japan and internationally. It operates through Air Transportation, Airline Related Travel Services, and Trade And Retail segments. The Air Transportation segment offers domestic and international passenger operations, cargo and mail operations, and other transportation services.

President C.E.O. INOUE, Shinichi

Date of Foundation April 2, 2012

Number of Employees 13,689 employees.

Principal Purpose

• Scheduled air transportation business
• Nonscheduled air transportation business and business utilizing aircraft
• Business of buying, selling, leasing, and maintenance of aircraft and aircraft parts.
• Aircraft transportation ground support business, including passenger boarding procedures and loading of hand baggage.

Board of Directors

Chairman

Koji Shibata 

                 President and CEO, ANA HOLDINGS INC.

Representative Director, President, and CEO

         Shinichi Inoue

         Chairman of the Board of Directors, Corporate Planning Committee, Safety Promotion Committee, CX Strategy Committee, Internal Audit

Representative Director, Senior Executive Vice President

         Ichiro Fukuzawa 

                 Corporate Strategy

Member of the Board, Executive Vice President (12)

  Katsuo Yokoyama  

Chief Safety Officer, Chairman of Safety Promotion Committee, Operations Committee, Operations Report & Review Committee, Operation Division, Safety Promotion, Corporate Safety & Quality Audit, Office for Government Aircraft Operations

Toshiaki Toyama  

Cargo Marketing & Services, President of ANA CARGO INC.

Hideo Miyake

Facilities, Procurement

Hideki Kunugi

Operation Division, Flight Operations

Junichiro Miyagawa  

Alliances & International Affairs, Future Creation

Emiko Kajita

ANA Group 70th Anniversary Project, ANA Brand Inflight Services Division, Operation Division, ANA Blue Base, Inflight Services

Hideaki Kuroki  

Operation Division, Engineering & Maintenance

Shigeru Hattori  

Risk & Compliance, Legal & Insurance, General Administration

Yoshiharu Naoki  

 Human Resources, Employee Relations, Public Relations, Business 

Support

Juichi Hirasawa  

Government & Industrial Affairs, Executive Secretariat, Network Planning, Economic Security

Junko Yazawa

Chairman of CX Strategy Committee, Sales & Marketing, Customer Experience Management & Planning

Kimihiro Nakahori

Chief Financial Officer, Accounting & Business Management

Executive Management 

Executive Vice President

Norihiko Matsuda 

Operations Management Center

Isamu Eto

Employee Relations

Masaki Yokai

Operations Support Center

Ken Sugiura 

General Manager, Corporate Safety, Safety Promotion Center

Yoichi Katsuoka  

President of ANA WINGS CO., LTD.

Naoko Nishijima  

Inflight Services Center

Kiyoshige Kameda 

Flight Operations Center

Kohei Tsuji  

Human Resources

Shinichi Hayase  

Government & Industrial Affairs, Office for Government Aircraft Operations

Yuzo Hara      

General Manager, China, General Manager, Beijing

Toshihiro Miyamae

Engineering & Maintenance Center

Tomoji Ishii

Customer Experience Management & Planning

Naoko Hara  

President of ANA TELEMART CO., LTD.

Akiko Oyamada

General Manager, Tokyo Airport, President of ANA AIRPORT SERVICES CO., LTD.

Hidetomo Aramaki 

Digital Transformation

Hiroyuki Kometani

Corporate Strategy, Future Creation

Jun Taneie  

DEI Promotion

Naoaki Takayanagi

Public Relations

Atsuyo Shiomi

Business Management, Corporate Strategy

Katsuya Goto

General Manager, EMEA, General Manager, London

Hiroyuki Kondo 

Kansai Area Airports Management Division, General Manager, Osaka Airport, President of ANA OSAKA AIRPORT CO., LTD.

Koji Oka 

General Manager, Narita Airport, President of ANA NARITA AIRPORT SERVICES CO., LTD.

Toshio Nomura  

General Manager, The Americas, General Manager, New York

Shinya Kanda

General Manager, Asia & Oceania, General Manager, Singapore 

Tadashi Matsushita   

Airline Management, Corporate Strategy

ANA Insider Share Structure 

Major Shareholders

Number of Shares of Common Stock

Percentage of Total Shares in issue

As of March 31, 2022, All Nippon Airways Authorized 1,020,000,000(1 Billion) Shares, where 47.47% (484 million) shares are issued in the Japanese Market.

For the percentage of total shares in issue, 55.97% are held by Japanese individuals, Japanese Financial Institutions hold 20.62%, Other Japanese Corporations hold 10.28%, Foreign Institutions and Individuals hold 8.45%, 2.82% held by Treasury Stock and 0.02% held by Japanese Government and Local Public. 

Product Positioning

1. Sustainable Competitive Edge and Advantage
2. ANA brand will maintain its appeal to the higher-priced market while capturing a wider range of non-business passenger segments, which is expected to grow. 
3. Newly established Third Brand will tap into growth markets such as Asia and Oceania, targeting demand for inbound flights to Japan.
4. Peach targets domestic and neighboring Asian markets to cultivate demand for low-cost and simplified operations. Peach will expand domestic routes, mainly to major metropolitan airports.

As each company transforms, ANA will pursue an optimal Air Transportation Business portfolio by maximizing group coverage of demand. 

ANA accomplishes this through the optimal positioning of each brand and stronger marketing collaborations.

Business Plan for sustainable growth under the new normal of the post-COVID-19 era

Source Market Share 

Fleet Report

Aircraft are the major investment used over the long term for airline companies, and ANA Group’s fleet strategy is based on three basic policies: 

• Strengthening cost competitiveness by introducing fuel-efficient aircraft
• Optimizing supply to demand by increasing the ratios of narrow- and medium-body aircraft
• Enhancing productivity by integrating aircraft types

Aircraft Position: Reduce wide-body and increase medium-body aircraft

Source Market Share. 

As Sep 10, 2022, All Nippon Airways has 215 aircraft, 199 in service, 16 parked, average service age of 8.9 years; where Airbus produces 18% (40) airplanes, and Boeing crafts 72% (175) airplanes.

ANA’s most popular model is Boeing 787 Dreamliner(mainly 787-8, 787-9). Boeing 787 is wide-Body aircraft, available with seat 246 cruising range of 14,200 km.

2. Pain Point Solution

To overcome COVID-19, ANA took emergency response measures in businesses, such as matching capacity to demand trends, optimizing personnel assignments and services, and introducing comprehensive hygiene measures.

In terms of finances, they engaged in cost reduction measures, curbed capital expenditures, and secured enough liquidity.

In addition, they conducted Business Structure Reform to return growth:

1. Temporarily reduced scale of the Air Transportation Business (reduced by around 25 aircraft and 4000 employees).

2. Transform the business model and maximize demand coverage across the group (ANA, Third Brand, Peach)

3. Establish a platform business that utilizes customer data assets to create new revenue opportunities (product sales: car rental, education, shopping, travel, feedback, and advertisement).

3. Goodwill Value(2021 Balance Sheet)

Goodwill: $ 201,842,000 

Intangible Asset:  $ 793,415,000

Total Investment and Other Assets: $4,834,920,000

Total(Asset): $28,975,548,000

Goodwill in 2021 balance sheet equals $ 201,842,000, accounting for 4.17% of total investment & other assets, or 0.69% of total assets.

Competitive Analysis Globally

Asian

Source market share 

ANA All Nippon Airways has a 7-star in Safety rating and a 5-star Skytrax rating, the best rating in Airline Rating and Skytrax Rating. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and EVA Air have the same rating. ANA has below average P/E value(9.1, average 12.1) and an average level PB value(1.55, average 1.65). The Profit Margin and Operating Margin stand in the middle level. ANA has a relatively higher current ratio and lower D/E ratio. ANA has 42196 employees, which ranks third in Asia. 

US & EUR

Source Market Share 

ANA has the highest rating in both Safety and Skytrax ratings. Compared with North American airlines, ANA has a relatively smaller market capitalization in terms of a company valuation. The market capital for Delta is 20B, Southwest Airlines is 22B, and United Airlines is 12B ANA’s 9B. Delta and Southwest Airlines have relatively larger P/E ratios than others. 

Financial Statement Risk Factors 

Major Risk

According to the company’s annual report, industry development and the international situation determine each year’s key risks. Some risks will last for a long time, while others are comprehensive, and while affecting multiple categories, the duration is also longer.

Risk Level and Factors

• Risks mentioned by the financial reports were summarized into 6 categories.
• Economic recession and fuel are the two main risks and the company’s focus category.
• Operation disruptions and government regulations refer to strategic risks.
• IT risks include system failures, personal information leaks, power outages, viruses, etc.
• The uncertainties of the international situation have increased in the past few years.
• Risk level refers to how many risk factors became loss in that fiscal year.

Current Balance Sheet 

Horizontally, total assets increased from 2.56 billion in 2018 to 3.22 billion in 2022, total liabilities increased from 1.56 billion in 2018 to 2.41 billion, and total equity decreased from 1.00 billion in 2018 to 0.80 billion in 2022.

In 2021, the total liabilities increased 47.23%, from 1.49 billion to 2.19 billion. 

In 2021, to face the COVID-19 effect, the total debt increased 96.41% from 0.84 billion in 2020 to 1.65 billion, and issued shares increased from 348 million to 484 million, with 135,795,200 additional issued shares. 

From 2020 to 2022, the total equity changes by year are all less than 0; separately are -3.65%, -5.29%, -20.64%.

Income Statement 

Common Size Proportion 

From the Income Statement before COVID-19, the ANA’s gross profit could reach 25% in 2018, 24% in 2019, 20% in 2020, then decrease to -37% in 2021, -3% in 2022. 

Operating Expenses could account for 17% in 2018, 16% in 2019, 17% in 2020, 27% in 2021, and 14% in 2022. Earning Before Interest Tax(EBIT) decreases from 10% in 2018 to 8% in 2019, 3% in 2020, -73% in 2021, and 15% in 2022.

Cash Flow Statement

Before 2021 ANA had positive Operating Cash-flow with 316 billion in 2018, 296 billion in 2019, and 130 billion in 2020. After the COVID pandemic, the operating cash decreased to -270 billion in 2021 and increased to -76 billion in 2022.

However, regarding Investing Cash-flow, ANA has negative cash flow except in 2022, with -324 billion in 2018, -308 billion in 2019, -230 billion in 2020, -595 billion in 2021, and 230 billion in 2022. 

For Financing Cash-flow in 2021, ANA has +1,098 billion cash flow, an end cash position of 370 billion Yan, change in cash + 231 billion. In 2022, ANA had +93 billion, an end cash position of 621 billion, change in cash + 247 billion. 

In 2021, there were 296,197,000,000 Yan for issuance of capital stock.

 Insurance debt increased from 166 billion in 2020 to 828 billion in 2021, decreasing to 169 billion in 2022.

Source Market Share.

Capitalization Requirements Debt

Source Market Share.

In 2022, for the total liabilities (2,415 billion), 28%(687.889 billion) came from current liabilities, and 72%(1,727 billion) came from total noncurrent liabilities net minority interest. 10%(236 billion) comes from current debt and capital lease obligations. 63% (1,513 billion) comes from long-term debt and capital lease obligation.

The Debt/Equity ratio increased from 0.789 in 2018 to 0.711 in 2019, 0.789 in 2020, 1.635 in 2021, and 2.178 in 2022.

Source investopedia.

Capitalization Requirements Equity

The P/E ratio changes from 8.598 in 2018, 13.86 in 2019, and 10.112 in 2020 to 0 in 2021 and 2022. 

In 2022, the proportion of equity 99%comes from stockholder equity, and 1% will come from minority interest. Within the stockholder equity, 58% comes from capital stock, 51% from additional paid-in capital, and 7% from treasury stock.

Break-even Analysis

The breakeven point is determined by comparing the market price of an asset to the original cost; the breakeven point is reached when the two prices are equal.

Formula: BEP = Fixed Costs / (Price per Unit Charged – Variable cost per unit)

Breakeven Load Factor (BLF) is the average percentage of seats that must be filled on an average flight at current average fares for the airline’s passenger revenue to break even with the airline’s operating expenses.

For domestic operations, the BLP increased around 2020 and then decreased by 2021, showing an opposite pattern of the PLF. This means that ANA experienced a profit loss in 2020 and made a relatively low profit in 2021. After that, ANA started generating profit again.

For international operations, the main pattern is the same. However, we should notice a big difference that the BLP and PLF lines crossed around mid-2020. This means that ANA generated a net loss. This situation turned out better after 2021.  Expectedly, ANA will generate net profit again around 2023.

Source MarketShare.

Market Research

Target Market Research

Target customers for the company 

Single Travelers:

Single travelers normally travel alone without a companion. Generally, they will look for the quickest and most convenient way to travel and are willing to pay a little more for additional services.

Needs: Flexible flight schedule; on-board facilities (charger, inflight entertainment)

Acquire: More flight options; wifi, charger, etc.; on-board entertainment

Families with small children:

Families with children are the main target market of the industry. Generally, their budget per capita is less than single travelers.

Needs: Value-of-money flight & bundle; child-friendly

Acquire: Small children’s playground; Dining; flight package deals; family plans; cartoon cooperation

Group Travelers:

A group of people traveling together due to business or leisure will usually be booked together through a travel agent. 

Needs: Discount; travel bundle

Acquire: Package deals; partner with the travel company

Couple Travelers:

Couples without a kid or newlyweds, most of them travel because of leisure and tend to arrange their own itineraries.

Needs: Cost-effective; popular tourist destination; couple specials

Acquire: Travel package for two; wedding plan

Elderly Travelers:

Elderly travelers usually travel on lower budgets in order to have a better flight experience, most elders are willing to spend more on flights that provide a better service. 

Needs: Assistance; Special amenities

Acquire Discount; ground assistance; medical team support; wheelchair; elder or disabled assistance;.

Business Travelers: 

Business travelers are the second main target market of the industry. They travel for work reasons and mostly fly during peak periods. Usually, they have a strict schedule, need the most convenient light, and are willing to pay extra for shorter and direct flights. 

Needs: Convenient flight; able to work; on time

Acquire: Increase number of flights; more flexible choice (refunds, move date); onboard work supply (Wifi, power charger, etc.); fast access (check-in, Security) 

Leisure Travelers:

Leisure travelers have plenty of time unconstrained by schedules (expect families with kids, they are normally limited by holidays and breaks). They are more interested in a country with a unique culture, accretions, nightlife or other points.

Needs: Value of money; more destination choice; season special

Acquire: Travel package; more destinations; multiple flight/ cheap flight options

Brand Positioning

ANA’s mission is to provide customers with reliable, safe, trustworthy, and efficient services. Since Covid-19 has caused a severe shock to the entire airline industry, the company has set a short-term goal and a medium-term goal: survive the pandemic and gradually return to the original level in the future. 

ANA Airlines received the On-time Performance Award for flight performance in 2021 and has Japan’s lowest cancellation and delay rates. It also has the World’s Best Airline Cabin Cleanliness, the World’s Best Airport Services, the Best Airline Staff in Asia, the Best First Class Lounge in Asia, 5 Star Airline, and Covid-19 Safety 5 star Rating of Global Skytrax Awards. ANA is also rated by the consumer website WalletHub For World’s top 100 Airlines 2021. On the AirlineRating website, consumers gave Safety, Product, and Covid-19 Star Rating Breakdown 7/7 evaluation.

SWOT Analysis

         Strengths:

1. Spirit of challenge
2. Continue to introduce new services and better products
3. Reform business structure in order to adapt to the new normal
4. Comprehensive capabilities
5. Various departments have close cross-border cooperation
6. Strong relationships
7. Close relationship with stakeholders
8. Focus on cooperation with business partner
9. Mutual trust with customers
10. Group Quality
11. Improve quality and service by ensuring safety and pursuing on-time operations relentlessly.
12. Creating environments to inspire passenger confidence
13. Japan’s largest airline

Weaknesses:

1. Low-cost airlines service competition
2. Significant losses
3. Since 2021, due to the impact of the epidemic, ANA has lost more than 400 billion yen and more than 100 billion yen for two consecutive years

Opportunities:

1. Tourists Increasing with Travel Restrictions Decreasing
2. International import and export opening
3. Business activities gradually resumed, and freight demand increased
4. World economy shifting to Asia-Pacific
5. Asian country GDP and per capita income rising
6. Increased demand for air travel

Threats:

1. Covid-19 Pandemic
2. Travel restrictions
3. Remote work. The virtual meetings will reduce the need for business travel
4. Travelers prefer domestic rather than foreign
5. Oil prices
6. Flight restrictions
7. Government regulations
8. Air traffic control 

Merger & Acquisition

Formation:

The Japan Helicopter and Aeroplane Transports Company, or Nippon Helicopter and Aeroplane, was founded on Dec 27th, 1952. It was to be Japan’s first post-war privately-owned air transport company, established two years after a ban on private air operations imposed by the Allied Forces was lifted. Nippon Helicopter and Aeroplane commenced operations with just two helicopters two months later.

Fundamental:

1957 Dec. The company name is changed to All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd (ANA)

1958 Mar. ANA merges with Far Eastern Airlines(远东航空)

• Horizontal Merge with Far Eastern Airlines, the combined companies had a total market capitalization of 600 million yen, and the merged company became the largest Japan private airline company. 

1961 Oct. ANA listed in Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Securities Exchange

1963 Nov. ANA merges with Fujita Koku K.K (藤田航空).

• Horizontal Merge with Fujita Koku Airline, raising the company’s capital to 4.65 billion yen.

1991 Oct. ANA’s shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange 

2004 Apr. The ANA Group is integrated under a single brand (All flight numbers use “ANA”)

2010 Oct A three-company merge is undertaken of Air Nippon Network, and multi-subsidiaries merged.

2011 July All Nippon Airways and AirAsia agreed to form a low-cost carrier called AirAsia Japan.

ANA absorbs 2012 Apr. Air Nippon Co. Ltd 

Objective: 

• ANA would merge with ANK, and the move would enable both the company and ANK to utilize their corporate resource fully
• Building a production structure that can respond with stability and flexibility to future business expansion 
• Changes in the business environment
• The two companies are expected to make further progress in streaming operations.

Method of Merge: This was an acquisition and merger, with ANA surviving and ANK being dissolved. 

Allocation of related shares: Since ANK was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, there were no issues of new shares, increases in capital, or payment of funds resulting from the merger.

New Share warrants and corporate bonds: ANK, the extinct company, issued no new share warrants or bonds with the preemptive right. 

2013 Apr. Introduction of a holding company structure and the start of ANA HOLDINGS INC.

Background and Objective:

• Japan’s airline industry is facing the expansion of airports, deregulation of the airline industry, and increased competition in Asia.
• To optimal organizational structure for building a multi-brand strategy between the existing ANA brand and the new LCC brand. 
• Strengthens the Group’s management 
• Enable autonomous management of each of the Group’s companies.

Method: Absorption-type company split where all shares of the Successor Company to be issued at the time of the Split will be allotted to the Company.

Share Allocation:1000 shares of common stock shall be issued by the Successor Company, with the shares allocated to the Company. 

Capital: No change in the capital of the Company