SpiceJet adds 18% on Ajay Singh's partial stake sale buzz; up 41% in 4 days

A big Middle Eastern airline has expressed interest to pick a 24 per cent stake and a board seat in SpiceJet, reports said

Shares of SpiceJet moved higher by 18 per cent to Rs 52.40 on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade amid heavy volumes on report that the company's promoter Ajay Singh is exploring possibility of a partial stake sale in the company. Currently, Ajay Singh and his family hold 59.40 per cent stake in SpiceJet.

At 11:36 AM, stock of the airline company was trading 16 per cent higher at Rs 51.60, as compared to 0.52 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. Trading volumes on the counter jumped over six-fold with a combined 30.12 million equity shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.

A big Middle Eastern airline has expressed interest to pick a 24 per cent stake and a board seat in SpiceJet, IANS reported quoting sources. A big Indian business conglomerate has also approached Singh for a stake in the airline, the news agency said. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT

Meanwhile, in the past four trading days, the market price of SpiceJet has zoomed 42 per cent on the back of positive developments. The stock has recovered 51 per cent from its 52-week low level of Rs 34.60, touched on July 28, 2022.

SpiceJet, on Tuesday, said it has entered into an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and has cleared all outstanding principal dues of the airport operator.

"With this, SpiceJet will no longer remain on 'cash and carry' at AAI run airports across the country and will revert to advance payment mechanism for daily flight operations. SpiceJet's ability to clear the pending dues reflects the airline's improved cash flow in the recent times," the company said in a press release.

AAI will release SpiceJet's Rs 50 crore bank guarantee following the airline clearing all its principal dues. This will result in additional liquidity for the airline, the company said. The Centre-run AAI had in 2020 put SpiceJet on a 'cash and carry' basis as the carrier was unable to clear its previous dues.

On Monday, SpiceJet said that flight operations remain absolutely normal. "The company is operating with excellent loads and the daily ticket bookings remain strong. “Our load factor on July 30, 2022 and July 31, 2022 was 81 per cent and 82.4 per cent respectively," the company said.