Finnair (AY, Helsinki Vantaa) has successfully completed its new share issuance, raising EUR500 million euros (USD588 million) with no major changes to its shareholding structure.
The airline said the issue, completed in early July, was oversubscribed. The state, which directly controls a 55.9% stake in the airline, committed to participating in the capital raising round in proportion to its stake, ensuring that it would retain its shareholding.
"The support by our shareholders forms a solid basis for rebuilding and implementing our strategy," Chief Executive Topi Manner said in the quarterly financial report.
Equipped with fresh cash, Finnair had approximately EUR970 million (USD1.15 billion) in available funds in early July 2020. The airline lost EUR314.6 million (USD370 million) during the first half of the year with more than half coming in the second quarter, normally much stronger than the traditionally weak first three months of the year. Finnair said that as its scheduled passenger operations came to a halt, cargo revenue accounted for around 70% of its total revenues in the second quarter. In the second quarter of 2019, cargo was responsible for just 7% of Finnair's total revenues.
The airline said the pandemic-induced slump in demand had caused it to defer the delivery of one A350-900, its sixteenth of the type, from the first to the second half of 2020. Finnair underlined that it currently intends to take two A350s in 2021 and the final one in 2022.
"Finnair has the possibility to adjust the size of its fleet in line with demand forecasts through the staggered maturities of its lease agreements and changes in the number of owned aircraft and by renegotiating the delivery schedules of committed aircraft purchases," it said.
According to the ch-aviation fleets ownership module, Finnair currently owns 32 of its 60 mainline aircraft (seven A319-100s, eight A320-200s, four A321-200s, three A330-300s, and ten A350-900s) and dry-leases the remaining 28 (one A319, two A320s, fifteen A321s, five A330-300s, and five A350-900s). Its subsidiaries Finnair ATR Finance and Finnair Aircraft Finance also own six out of twelve ATR72-500s and nine out of twelve ERJ 190-100LRs operated by regional capacity provider NoRRA Nordic Regional Airlines (N7, Helsinki Vantaa).
