MUMBAI:
Kingfisher Airlines' net loss more than trebled in the quarter to end-March
from a year earlier, battered by high fuel prices
and a weakened rupee, but the ailing Icarrier pledged a return to full-scale
operations in the next 12 months.
Debt-laden Kingfisher, controlled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, has slashed its flight network down to the bare bones as it seeks cash to continue operations and repay around $1.3 billion of loans.
"The company has a focused fleet re-induction plan and hopes to be back to full-scale operations in the next 12 months backed by a recapitalization plan that the company is actively pursuing and confident of achieving," Kingfisher said in a statement on Thursday.
Kingfisher lost Rs 1150 crore ($90.1 million) in the fiscal fourth quarter, 74.8 per cent more than a loss of Rs 360 crore a year previously. Revenue fell 54 per cent to Rs 740 crore.
Kingfisher has pared its schedule to 120 flights per day from 370 per day in September and has ditched its international operations in an attempt to bring losses under control.
The airline has become a byword for country's brutal airline industry, where carriers struggle with high taxes on jet fuel, a harsh regulatory environment and cut-throat competition that keeps fares low.
The carrier blamed losses on high fuel prices, a weak rupee and an "unprecedented, tough operating environment," but said it would return to normal services within 12 months.
"The company has a focused fleet re-induction plan and hopes to be back to full-scale operations in the next 12 months backed by a recapitalization plan that the company is actively pursuing and confident of achieving," it said in a statement on Thursday.
National carrier Air India has been forced to cut most of its international routes due to industrial action by its pilots, handing Jet Airways - the country's top carrier - an opportunity to increase aggressively its market share in international routes.
Low-fare and mostly domestic carriers such as Indigo - the only airline making money in India - and Spicejet have also gained market share recently as Kingfisher and Air India have suffered.
Spicejet said on Wednesday that its net loss for the January-March quarter had widened more than four-fold, but it expected lower costs once the company starts importing jet fuel directly.
FUND CONSTRAINTS
Kingfisher needs at least $500 million immediately to keep flying, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, but there has been no sign of funding in the near term.
The company said its net loss for the year to end-March was 23.3 billion rupees, more than double its loss in the previous fiscal year. That compared with the 15.4 billion rupees loss forecast by two analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Debt-laden Kingfisher, controlled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, has slashed its flight network down to the bare bones as it seeks cash to continue operations and repay around $1.3 billion of loans.
"The company has a focused fleet re-induction plan and hopes to be back to full-scale operations in the next 12 months backed by a recapitalization plan that the company is actively pursuing and confident of achieving," Kingfisher said in a statement on Thursday.
Kingfisher lost Rs 1150 crore ($90.1 million) in the fiscal fourth quarter, 74.8 per cent more than a loss of Rs 360 crore a year previously. Revenue fell 54 per cent to Rs 740 crore.
Kingfisher has pared its schedule to 120 flights per day from 370 per day in September and has ditched its international operations in an attempt to bring losses under control.
The airline has become a byword for country's brutal airline industry, where carriers struggle with high taxes on jet fuel, a harsh regulatory environment and cut-throat competition that keeps fares low.
The carrier blamed losses on high fuel prices, a weak rupee and an "unprecedented, tough operating environment," but said it would return to normal services within 12 months.
"The company has a focused fleet re-induction plan and hopes to be back to full-scale operations in the next 12 months backed by a recapitalization plan that the company is actively pursuing and confident of achieving," it said in a statement on Thursday.
National carrier Air India has been forced to cut most of its international routes due to industrial action by its pilots, handing Jet Airways - the country's top carrier - an opportunity to increase aggressively its market share in international routes.
Low-fare and mostly domestic carriers such as Indigo - the only airline making money in India - and Spicejet have also gained market share recently as Kingfisher and Air India have suffered.
Spicejet said on Wednesday that its net loss for the January-March quarter had widened more than four-fold, but it expected lower costs once the company starts importing jet fuel directly.
FUND CONSTRAINTS
Kingfisher needs at least $500 million immediately to keep flying, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, but there has been no sign of funding in the near term.
The company said its net loss for the year to end-March was 23.3 billion rupees, more than double its loss in the previous fiscal year. That compared with the 15.4 billion rupees loss forecast by two analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
India's
plans to allow foreign airlines to invest up to 49 percent in local carriers -
for which Kingfisher has lobbied hard - has not yet taken off, adding to its
funding crisis.
Mallya has repeatedly insisted that several domestic and international investors are interested in his company, and for months the names of many foreign airlines and local tycoons have been reported as prospective White Knights, but so far there has been much talk and no money.
If Kingfisher fails to turn the airline around, its banks - which have $1.3 billion in loans outstanding - would be left to pick over the carcass in a country that does not have a formal bankruptcy process.
Loans are secured in part by a combination of guarantees by the airline's parent, the UB group, as well as Kingfisher shares, Mallya's personal guarantees, its Mumbai real estate assets and the Kingfisher brand itself, bankers said.
European planemaker Airbus, which has accommodated Kingfisher by pushing its aircraft deliveries back in the queue, would lose outstanding orders for 92 planes with a combined list price of $12 billion. It would also see Kingfisher's fleet enter the second-hand market.
Mallya has repeatedly insisted that several domestic and international investors are interested in his company, and for months the names of many foreign airlines and local tycoons have been reported as prospective White Knights, but so far there has been much talk and no money.
If Kingfisher fails to turn the airline around, its banks - which have $1.3 billion in loans outstanding - would be left to pick over the carcass in a country that does not have a formal bankruptcy process.
Loans are secured in part by a combination of guarantees by the airline's parent, the UB group, as well as Kingfisher shares, Mallya's personal guarantees, its Mumbai real estate assets and the Kingfisher brand itself, bankers said.
European planemaker Airbus, which has accommodated Kingfisher by pushing its aircraft deliveries back in the queue, would lose outstanding orders for 92 planes with a combined list price of $12 billion. It would also see Kingfisher's fleet enter the second-hand market.
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