SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) is planning to shore up its balance sheet through fresh capital raising and will embark on an "aggressive push" to add new aircraft, Chief Executive Ajay Singh told The Financial Express.
"The process has already started, and we saw some of that in the last month. The next two quarters will see significant action to clean up the balance sheet. There will be a fresh raising of capital and aggressive push to add aircraft," he said.
Speaking during an event in New Delhi, Singh promised that the airline would have a "vastly different" balance sheet in two quarters. In February, it issued new equity shares worth USD29.5 million to Carlyle Aviation Partners to restructure its debt to the lessor, estimated at around USD100 million. Carlyle, which was SpiceJet's largest lessor, took a 7.5% stake in the airline following the transaction.
Singh said the transaction converted "nearly the entire debt [of Carlyle] into equity". He told CNBC TV18 that SpiceJet would look to enter into similar deals with other lessors, which would "significantly strengthen its balance sheet".
SpiceJet has also hived off its cargo business, SpiceXpress, raising INR25.56 billion rupees (USD309 million).
Singh stressed that surging demand is driving yields up, generating a tailwind for the troubled carrier. "The future looks brighter than it has in some time," he admitted.
SpiceJet has not disclosed specific plans to add more aircraft. Singh said that the carrier's priority was also to reactivate its current fleet. The ch-aviation fleets module shows that the LCC operates five B737-700s, thirteen B737-8s, sixteen B737-800s, three B737-900ERs, and twenty-eight DHC-8-Q400s, as well as three B737-700(BDSF)s for its cargo business. However, roughly half of the airline's fleet remains grounded. To supplement its lacking in-house capacity, SpiceJet is currently wet-leasing two B737-800s from Corendon Airlines Europe and five B737-8s from Corendon Airlines.
