LAM’s accumulated debt fell by almost 6% in 2023 to less than 100 ME

According to the report, from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, LAM, in the process of restructuring, had a total debt of 112.3 million dollars (104.6 million euros) in 2022 and reduced the weight on the total of SEE debt, to 17.3% last year.

Overall, Mozambican SEE companies, among 18 wholly owned by the State or participated in, accumulated at the end of 2023 a total debt stock of 612.1 million dollars (570.3 million euros), a reduction of almost 10 % within a year.

“It should be noted that, after Rádio Moçambique managed to fully settle its debts in 2022, in 2023 three other companies (Televisão de Moçambique, Correios de Moçambique and DOMUS), completely settled the debts on their respective balance sheets”, reads the document.

The SEE debt stock was led in 2023 by the company Aeroportos de Moçambique, with 199.4 million dollars (185.8 million euros), which reduced by almost 1% in one year, with a weight of 32.6% of the total, followed by Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (18.5%), with 113.4 million dollars (105.7 million euros), which reduced 20.3%, and by LAM (17.3% of the total ).

These three companies alone accumulated 70% of the direct debt of the Mozambican SEE last December.

LAM has been led for almost two months by Theunis Crous, who is also the general director of the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), appointed by the Mozambican government in April last year to restructure the state-owned airline.

LAM’s Board of Directors announced on February 28 the termination of duties of the company’s general director, João Carlos Pó Jorge, as part of the company’s restructuring measures. On the same day, he was replaced by Theunis Crous, who will assume the role on an interim basis until April 30, the period scheduled for the decision to renew the contract with the FMA, in which the new general director of LAM is a partner and its general director.

LAM operates regular passenger flights to the country’s 10 provincial capitals and to the Mozambican cities of Vilanculos and Nacala. Regionally, it also flies to Johannesburg and Cape Town (South Africa), Dar-Es-Salaam (Tanzania), Harare (Zimbabwe) and Lusaka (Zambia), with the launch of flights to Lilongwe (Malawi) and Nairobi (Kenya), in addition to Dubai, China and India.

LAM has also been flying three times a week to Lisbon since last December, the only intercontinental destination it currently operates.

PVJ // SB

Lusa/End