Croatia Airlines: loss-making, high-cost and in need of capital. Any takers?

In part one of our report on Croatia Airlines, we looked at its network and considered its possible appeal to any prospective bidder if the Croatian Government proceeds with reported plans to sell a stake in its national carrier. Interest will likely focus on the international market from Croatia, where it has some strong market positions, although it would bring only limited additional European access to a major Asian or Middle Eastern carrier and faces growing LCC competition.

In this second and final part of our report, we examine Croatia Airlines' finances and cost base. The group is loss-making since 2008, with a high-cost CASK structure and liable to need fresh equity capital (on top of that provided by the government in a debt to equity swap in 2012).

Having considered any strategic interest in Croatia Airlines, potential bidders will need to assess the feasibility and timing of any return to profitability and factor in the likelihood of having to inject more cash into the company. It will be a challenging sale.