[THE INVESTOR] Korean budget carrier T’way Air is seeking to float its shares this year, following suit of its larger rivals Jeju Air and Jin Air, according to media reports on March 29. 

T’way Air will file for preliminary IPO screening to the Korea Exchange on March 30. It has picked Daishin Securities and Shinhan Investment as the lead manager, with plans to debut on the country’s main bourse KOSPI by year-end. 

Industry sources projected T’way’s valuation to range from 800 billion won (US$750.40 million) to 1 trillion won. 

With the fresh funds, the carrier is seeking to purchase new planes to expand into new routes, from Korea to Europe and North America, for the first time as a low-cost carrier. By 2020, it plans to purchase eight Boeing 737 MAX8s, in addition to 19 aircrafts that it is operating. 

On the back of rising tourism demand, T’way’s revenue came to 584 billion won last year, up from 382.8 billion won in 2016. It’s net profit soared from 20 billion won to 39.2 billion won last year. The airline carried over 3.28 million passengers last year on its international routes, up 62 percent on-year.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)