KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group Bhd does not rule out the possibility of spinning off its digital business under AirAsia Digital from the core airlines business.
Founder and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said AirAsia was closely "watching this space".
"Certainly, if you look at the way we are positioning ourselves, there will be a split at some time, for sure. The stock market isn't giving us any value for digital products. So the board and I will have to look at that," he said at a virtual press conference yesteryda after launching AirAsia's maiden e-hailing service, airasia ride on airasia superapp.
The group is stretched too thin on several businesses, and the potential split between digital and airlines could ease the complexity of running both segments.
Fernandes said analysts did not write about its digital business despite its valuation, in which bigpay was valued close to US$200 million while its superapp was valued at US$1 billion, higher than the group's Thai market capitalisation.
He said people tended to focus on AirAsia being an airline business, but it had become a multi- and data-driven technology company with a strong brand.
"In time, people will see that, but I think we are in the right place in the right way," he added.
Bloomberg had reported that AirAsia was exploring the possibility of listing either its AirAsia Digital or AirAsia SuperApp in the United States as early as this year.
The move was to expand its digital operations as the group's airline business was still grappling to take off the ground.
Meanwhile, AirAsia plans to recruit about 30,000 drivers for airasia ride in the coming months from the current new registrations of over 5,000 drivers.
airasia ride Malaysia chief executive officer Lim Chiew Shan said the ride-hailing services were available in the Klang Valley and integrated into AirAsia superapp.
"We will gradually release drivers (ready-to-drive) depending on the market demand. Initially, we will release about 1,000 drivers and continue to sign up more drivers.
"We make sure our supply is in sync with demand," he said, adding that airasia ride would expand the ride-hailing services in Penang as well as Sabah and Sarawak across sub-urban areas in the next few weeks."
Lim said airasia ride would likely expand nationwide by the year-end, covering areas in Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Johor Bahru as well as other cities and small towns.
Fernandes expects airasia ride to expand in Thailand followed by Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore.
"Malaysia is the first step for us to introduce this e-hailing services. We are strong in airport and tourism - flying in customers in - an airport will be a dominant place for a start," he said.
Fernandes believes the group would continue building airasia superapp and expanding its new offerings while improving its services in the next five to six months.
"We (superapp) are less than a year old. When we started with AirAsia, we got a lot of delays and issues. It takes time, but we will get there, eventually. Give us another five to six months. After that, our app will do a new thing," he added.
airasia Super App chief executive officer Amanda Woo said airasia ride had established its driver community, allowing them to choose their preferences in undertaking the ride-hailing jobs.
"We have our way to serve the riding job. We have a powerful ecosystem and logistics arm. The entire ecosystem is our strength," she said.
Woo said AirAsia was about democratising services and giving people the freedom to choose, championing air mobility by flying over 700 million people globally.
"With airasia ride, we aim to empower people to move around more easily, making full use of the AirAsia Super App technology. airasia ride inherits the DNA of running a low-cost model, enabling savings to be passed on to guests and striving to offer the lowest fares on the road," she added.