(Yicai Global) Sept. 22 -- Shares of China Eastern Airlines, one of the country’s big three carriers, fell after the company said its ninth-largest shareholder plans to sell half of its stake in the airline.

China Eastern [SHA: 600115] closed 1.4 percent lower today at CNY4.88 (69 US cents), valuing it at CNY79.2 billion (USD11.2 billion), after the shares dropped by as much as 2.6 percent intraday. The company has lost 5.4 percent of its value this year.

China Eastern said late yesterday that Juneyao Group, which owns Juneyao Air, plans to sell as many as 156 million of the Shanghai-based carrier’s shares, equal to 0.8 percent of China Eastern’s outstanding equity.

Juneyao had a 1.65 percent stake in China Eastern as of June 30, according to the carrier’s first-half earnings report, while Juneyao and three of its units, including Juneyao Air, collectively owned 8.9 percent of China Eastern.

Shanghai-based Juneyao and its affiliates spent nearly CNY6 billion (USD846 million) in 2019 buying shares of China Eastern in a private placement priced at CNY5.35 per share. Based on today’s closing price, the investment represents a loss.

Due to the impact of the pandemic, China Eastern reported its biggest loss in two decades in the first half of this year. The net loss widened 1.5 times from a year earlier to CNY18.7 billion (USD2.64 billion). Revenue plunged 44 percent to CNY19.3 billion.

Juneyao Air’s net loss nearly quadrupled to about CNY1.9 billion in the same period, while revenue sank 44 percent to CNY3.4 billion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione