Kuala Lumpur-headquartered investment giant Capital A Berhad has named Effendy Shahul Hamid, former CEO of consumer and digital banking at Malaysia’s CIMB Group, as its deputy CEO as the Malaysian group looks to scale up its core businesses after spinning off its aviation arm to its affiliate, budget carrier AirAsia X.
Announcing the move, Capital A founder and CEO Tony Fernandes said Hamid’s onboarding will help spearhead growth, including a possible listing of the business in Hong Kong by mid-2026.
In January 2026, Capital A completed the sale of its short-haul aviation business to AirAsia X, allowing the latter to focus on expanding operations and reducing costs while Capital A looked to grow its businesses in areas including logistics, branding and aircraft maintenance. The move, along with Hamid’s appointment, comes amid both companies facing headwinds caused by the Middle East conflict, which has sent jet fuel prices soaring.
Capital A’s shares are down 27% over the past month, while AirAsia X’s have plunged 41%.
According to Tony Fernandes, Capital A has seen an impact from the Middle East conflict on its businesses, which include aircraft maintenance, freight and logistics, food catering and branding services. However, AirAsia would work to keep its fares low, while desisting from the practice of cancelling flights amid the ongoing conflict. The budget carrier would also provide updates on its operations in the first week of April.
Capital A is also aiming to list its branding unit, AirAsia Next, in the United States by the end of 2026, reviving a plan that was called off two years ago.
Tony Fernandes also stated that the listing plans for Capital A and AirAsia Next were dependent on the group’s exit from PN17 classification, a tag given by Malaysia’s stock exchange to financially distressed companies.
Capital A has been classified as PN17 since 2022, after incurring massive losses due to COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions.
“We just need to submit our audited accounts (to the stock exchange). I don’t want to jump the gun, but that’s the last thing we have (to do),” Tony Fernandes concluded.