By IANS,
Mumbai : Shares of budget carrier SpiceJet Saturday closed 4.11 percent up after it became known that promoter Kalanithi Maran would infuse Rs.100 crore into the airline in lieu of five percent equity.
In a special trading session at the Bombay Stock Exchange, the airline’s scrip rose 5.3 percent to touch the intra-trade high of Rs.21.80 before slipping to close at Rs.21.55.
The bourses conducted a special trading session for over an hour Saturday to test disaster management systems.
The company’s chief executive Neil Mills had Friday told IANS that Maran’s decision to up his stake showed the confidence of the promoters in the company and its viability.
Maran would be allotted 42.9 million preferential shares as part of the transaction.
“This is the second time in eight months when the promoters have infused equity. Last September, we received Rs.130 crore and five percent of the equity shares were allotted to the promoters,” Mills said.
After the latest infusion, the overall holding of the promoters will go up to 48.6 percent.
Mills said the fresh funds would be utilised by the company in its day-to-day activities and for general expenses. The infusion should come as a relief to the airline as the whole sector is facing tough operating conditions like high interest and fuel costs.
The budget carrier had Feb 6 reported a net loss of Rs.39.26 crore for the quarter ended Dec 31 from a net profit of Rs.94.44 crore in the like period of 2010-11.
The airline had blamed escalating ATF (aviation turbine fuel) prices and abnormal increase in the US dollar rates as the reason for the net loss in the quarter ended Dec 31, 2011.
Maran, the Sun TV owner, became the chairman of Gurgaon-based SpiceJet in November 2010 after he bought the stake of US-based investor Wilbur Ross.