Cathay Pacific freezes new hiring, to focus on cost cuts: Report

Cathay shares fell 2.4% early on Thursday, lagging the benchmark Hang Seng Index that was down 0.4%. The weak demand and cuts to capacity will heap more pressure on Cathay and its new management, appointed after CEO Rupert Hogg quit last month in a shock move and the resignation of Chairman John Slosar last week. Cathay, which is trying to complete a three-year financial turnaround plan, has become the biggest corporate casualty of the Hong Kong protests after China demanded it suspend staff involved in, or supporting, the demonstrations that have plunged the former British colony into a political crisis. Jefferies analyst Andrew Lee told clients he expected the airline could swing to a HK$973 million ($124.1 million) loss in the second half of the year. BOCOM International analyst Luya You said second-half earnings could be 'notably dismal'. Cathay last month swung to its first profit for the January-June period since 2016 and said at the time that the second half was likely to be better as usual due to seasonality DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Indian Expresshttp://www.dtt.marche.it/UserProfile/tabid/43/userId/9889866/Default.aspx