Singapore Airlines buys 9.9pc additional stake in Virgin for $122.6m SINGAPORE Airlines said a decision to increases its stake in Virgin Australia to 19.9 per cent, making it the carrier's joint-largest shareholder, underscored its commitment to the Australian market. The airline has agreed to take another 9.9 per cent of Virgin Australia in a deal that will see it purchase 225 million shares at 48 cents from Richard Branson's Virgin Group. The deal, which is still subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval, is valued at $122.6m. "Our partnership with Virgin Australia has been going from strength to strength, offering a wide range of consumer benefits," said Singapore Airlines chief executive Goh Choon Phong. "Increasing our stake in Virgin Australia is another example of Singapore Airlines" deep commitment to the important Australian market. It also demonstrates our support for the ongoing transformation of Virgin Australia, which has created a more competitive aviation market in Australia. Singapore and Virgin has been in a marketing alliance since 2011, took a 10 per cent stake in 2012, and the chief executives of the airlines have a good relationship. Singapore has also been boosting its presence in Australia and remains a major shareholder in Tiger Airways Holdings, which is about to entering into a joint venture on its Australian operations with Virgin. A Virgin spokeswoman said: "We don't comment on changes to our share register other than to say that we believe that this is a further demonstration of confidence in our strategy." Air NZ confirmed it was also topping up its shareholding to 19.9 per cent and Etihad, whose stake has been diluted to 8.6 per cent, has expressed a desire to take its ownership the same level. The Kiwi carrier also released figures today showing it expects to double its full-year profit this financial year. It expects normalised net earnings for the year to June 30 to be in a range of $NZ235 million ($193 million) to $NZ260 million based on current market conditions and the trading environment. It reported normalised net earnings of $NZ91 million in the 2012 financial year.