New Delhi: IndiGo, India's largest carrier parent Interglobe Aviation Ltd on Monday said it will raise up to Rs 4,000 crore through the sale of shares to institutional investors, as it looks to manage cash during the COVID-19 pandemic which has for its operations.
"...Board of Directors of InterGlobe Aviation Limited (the "Company"), at its meeting held today, i.e., August 10, 2020, has considered and approved the raising of funds foreign aggregate amount not exceeding INR 4,000 cross through an issue of equity shares by way of a qualified institutions placement," the airline said in a stock exchange notification on Monday.
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Notably, the company had reported a net loss of Rs 2,849 crore for the quarter ended June 30, compared with a profit of rupees 1,200 crores a year earlier.
"Closure of schedule operations till May 24, 2020, and lower capacity deployment thereafter on account of COVID-19, significantly impacted the quarterly results," the company had said in an exchange filing on July 29.
On July 15, a report by rating agency Crisil had said that Indian Airlines are staring at a revenue loss of Rs 1.3 trillion between fiscal 2020 and 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has severely hit demand.
India had suspended all scheduled all domestic and international passenger flights on March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. During this period, hundreds of airlines were grounded.
After nearly two months, domestic flights in India started operating in a calibrated manner from May 25 and the airlines have been facing a severe cash crunch due to the disruption caused by COVID-19 outbreak.
Last month, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had said that global passenger traffic will not return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2024, real later than previously projected.
The aviation sector has been hit hard due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the coronavirus pandemic. All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures by announcing pay cuts, LWP and firing of employees in order to conserve cash flow.
