China Southern Airlines' shares soar on big capital injection

China Southern Airlines' shares soared 7.1% in Hong Kong to their highest level since Jun-2008 (as trading resumed after a two-week suspension), following the carrier's announcement of a much bigger than expected capital raising plan - supported by Beijing - to help it improve its balance sheet. Clearly a return to profitability in 2009 and soaring rates of traffic growth in 2010 were not enough. Beijing is again dipping deeply into its pockets to support the "big three" airlines following a flawed industry consolidation programme and massive debt-fuelled expansion last decade, as well as natural disasters and wrong-way bets on derivatives in 2008 and the global economic morass of 2009.