BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s low-cost carrier SpiceJet said on Tuesday it would raise 22.50 billion rupees ($269.9 million) through the issue of preferential shares and warrants as the troubled airline seeks to return operations to full capacity.
The airline will issue shares worth 16 billion rupees and warrants convertible to shares worth 6.5 billion rupees, it said in an exchange filing.
The fundraise, its third this year, will help SpiceJet restore its grounded fleet of 25 jets and clear unpaid salaries.
Once India’s second-largest airline, SpiceJet has been struggling to pay lessors for over a year, facing legal troubles over unpaid dues to former owner Kalanidhi Maran and Credit Suisse, and lessors looking to de-register aircraft.
The cash-strapped carrier said its second-quarter loss narrowed to 4.32 billion rupees from 8.38 billion rupees a year earlier by roughly halving its operating expenses.
Its revenue declined roughly 30% to 13.48 billion rupees in the three months to Sept. 30.
SpiceJet’s shares, which has risen around 40% since it first said it would consider raising funds last Wednesday, fell 8% after the announcements.
($1 = 83.3620 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam and Varun Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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Source: The Print
