Cash-strapped SpiceJet to sell more stakes in airline business

The cash-strapped airline, SpiceJet is open to selling more shares to reduce its liabilities, chairman and managing director Ajay Singh said.

As per Livemint report, Singh further said we are flexible. We will talk to our partners and see what it is they prefer to do. But, irrespective, we need to deleverage our balance sheet to have the space to grow, and that’s what we are trying to do," Singh said in response to a query at the CAPA India Aviation Summit.

At the end of the December quarter, when it posted a four-fold jump in net profit to ₹106.8 crore thanks to robust demand and higher fares, the Gurugram-based airline had liabilities of around ₹14,000 crore.

The carrier has been in talks with lessors, investors and lenders in India and abroad for renegotiating contracts, raising funds, and restructuring. The airline has convinced Carlyle Aviation, its largest lessor from which it has leased 13 aircraft, to convert $100 million of outstanding dues into a 7.5% equity and $65.5 million worth of compulsorily convertible debentures in the cargo unit.

The cash-strapped carrier has been facing multiple headwinds though it reported a multi-fold rise in net profit to Rs 107 crore in the three months ended December 2022, helped by better performance in passenger and cargo businesses.