COMAC's Under-development C929 Secures 1st Buyer

China’s still-under-development and unseen, wide-body, 280-seat C929 jet found Air China as the first buyer at China's Zhuhai air show through a preliminary purchase agreement. 

 

The prototype of the wide-body jet has yet to be revealed and is far from the airworthiness certification stage. It is being built to compete with the Airbus 350 and Boeing 787 families. 

 

The order is more of a show of commitment to the domestic industry, as the customer deliveries are meant to start only around 2027. 

 

COMAC are already engaged in capacity building of the C909 (formerly the ARJ21) and the narrow-body C919. In the meantime, the long-range 250-to-320-seat wide-body twinjet airliner C929 is under development. And according to the EurAsian Times, COMAC have plans for the futuristic C939 as a competitor to the Boeing 777 and Airbus A350.

On Thursday, Berjaya Food Berhad, the operator of Starbucks Malaysia, reported a net loss of RM33.68 million for the first quarter ended September 30, 2024 (1QFY2025), compared to a net profit of RM19.03 million in the same period last year. 

 

This marks BFood's fourth consecutive quarter of losses. 

 

And revenue dropped 55.4 percent to RM124.1 million from RM278.5 million in the corresponding quarter, amid an ongoing boycott which has lasted more than a year. 

 

“Despite strong brand equity and active promotions, we believe the boycott headwinds will persist, at least in the near term, which will significantly impact earnings”, Hong Leong Investment Bank were cited by The Edge. 

 

In an effort to diversify, Berjaya Food have focused on expanding their other brands, including Paris Baguette and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. 

 

However, Maybank Investment Bank noted that “meaningful earnings diversification will be slow” due to the company’s heavy reliance on Starbucks. 

 

Besides, increased competition in the industry is also expected to hinder the company’s earnings recovery, according to the research house.