The no-frills carrier SpiceJet Ltd said it is in no hurry to mobilise funds. There is no cash flow crisis as of now, and hence, “we are not desperate” to raise funds, said Neil Mills, Chief Executive Officer. However, he said private equity is one of the options the company will explore.
On foreign direct investment, he said though the company has not had formal talks with any airline as yet, it will evaluate all individual deals, and will strike one “that would make economic sense to our shareholders and the company”.
Speaking to a group of media persons on the sidelines of the company's annual general meeting held here today, he said lower occupancy, hike in airport charges, volatile currency and an all-time high in fuel prices are the major challenges the aviation industry is facing.
Fuel alone accounts for over 45 per cent of the carrier’s operating cost. Direct fuel import will lower operational costs. In the case of SpiceJet, direct import of ATF should happen anytime soon. There are some bureaucratic delays and “should be cleared in a few months”, he said.
Refusing to give out the exact discount the carrier is offering on its fares, he said that “our rates are competitive enough”.
After five straight quarterly losses, SpiceJet posted a Rs 56-crore profit for the April-June quarter of the current financial year, against a Rs 72-crore loss in the comparable previous year quarter. A press release from the company attributed the improved performance to higher passenger load factors.
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