Tunisair Holds Ordinary General Assembly Amidst Financial Storm
The national airline Tunisair held its Ordinary General Assembly (AGO) on December 30, a highly anticipated event marked by a striking temporal discrepancy: shareholders had to make decisions regarding the 2022 fiscal year. In a somber atmosphere, given the dire financial situation, several key decisions were made to try and maintain the company's course amidst the financial turmoil.
Attendance Fees
One of the agenda items concerned the remuneration of administrators (attendance fees). In an effort to comply with regulations, the amounts were set as follows:
- State representatives: 5,000 TND per year
- Public enterprises and small shareholders: 2,188 TND per year
- Audit committee: members who monitor the accounts receive an allowance linked to their actual attendance (500 TND per meeting), with an annual cap of 3,000 TND
A Financial Chasm
The financial report highlights the deep crisis that Tunisair is facing. For the year 2022, the airline posted a net loss of nearly 229 million dinars. More alarming still, the cumulative deficit (carried-over results) now exceeds the symbolic threshold of 2 billion dinars. With negative equity of -1.47 billion dinars, the company's very survival is in question. It is for this reason that an Extraordinary Assembly had to validate the continuation of the company's activities, based on a new business plan.
Governance
While the assembly gave its approval (discharge) to the administrators' management for 2022, it set strict limits:
- Exclusions: executives facing judicial proceedings did not receive approval
- Rejected operations: shareholders refused to validate certain practices deemed irregular, such as an exceptional loan of 8,000 TND granted by the former CEO or bank loan guarantees granted to flight personnel for a total amount of 34 million dinars
In summary, Tunisair is attempting to regularize its administrative situation with significant delay (over two years behind the legal schedule), while trying to plug the holes in a financially leaky ship.
