SpiceJet to raise ₹2,500 crore, quarterly loss narrows

Budget airline SpiceJet on Wednesday reported a net loss of ₹235.3 crore in the fourth quarter of FY21 against a loss of ₹807.1 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

As per the company, business continues to be severely impacted by the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic which has adversely hit operations and travel demand.

The airline reported a net loss of ₹998.3 crore in FY2021.

On a segment wise basis, the revenue from cargo operations increased by 518 per cent aggregating to ₹1,117.5 crore for FY2021 with profit of Rs 130.9 crore for the full year against a loss of ₹134.2 crore for the previous year.

Furthermore, the company continues to incur various costs owing to the grounding and the inability of Boeing 737Max aircraft to undertake revenue operations for over two years now.

"SpiceJet continues to engage with Boeing to recover damages incurred by the Company due to the grounding of the MAX and also engage with aircraft lessor of the grounded MAX aircraft to restructure the present leases."

Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said: "The intensity with which the second wave of Covid-19 struck and the unimaginable devastation it has caused, both for the already battered travel industry and generally, will take time to heal."

"To ensure our long term growth and sustainable operation we have decided to raise funds of up to ₹2,500 crore. These funds will be used to significantly strengthen our balance sheet."

He added: "With vaccination touching record numbers and travel demand slowly picking up, we hope that the worst is behind us but we remain extremely cautious about the future."

"While there is still much work and recovery to be done we have managed to reduce our net loss in Q4 through re-structuring of our contracts which will have a significant positive impact in the long term."


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