TheCable

Dick Murianki, chief financial officer (CFO) of Kenya Airways, says it has about $4 million held up in Nigeria as it faces difficulties in repatriating funds, after $257 million yearly loss.

Speaking at the presentation of its full year result in Nairobi, Kenya, Murianki said the airline had been able to repatriate about $1 million from Africa’s biggest economy.

Murianki said the airline, which transport about 11,500 passengers per day, reduced its operating loss by about 75 percent in the year ending on March 31, 2016.

Mbuvi Ngunze, Kenya Airways’ chief executive officer, said it had been a very tough year, but added that the airline’s revenue had increased by five per cent in 2015-16.

“We are still growing even in difficult times. We are still operating, and confidently so, even with results that are losses,” he said.

Following three years of consecutive losses (now four), Kenya Airways kicked of a turnaround strategy, laying of 600 employees, 15 per cent of its workforce, as it seeks to return to profit.

The national carrier of east Africa’s largest economy has shrunk its fleet by over 25 percent, selling its valuable take-off and landing slot at London’s Heathrow airport.

The airline lost over $95 million to foreign exchange restrictions in Nigeria, Angola and South Sudan.