Jet to raise Rs 750 cr for working capital needs

Jet Airways, the country’s largest private carrier, has decided to raise Rs 750 crore shortly to meet its working capital requirements, according to its chief executive officer. Jet CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told that this round of fund raising will be in addition to the Rs 1,250-crore fund that the company had raised in the past two months. Jet would raise funds from two nationalised banks, he added, without divulging other details such as identity of the lenders and the terms and conditions of the loan. “We will announce the details once we tie up our entire fund requirements,” he said. Jet has set a target of raising Rs 2,000 crore to meet its working capital requirements by the end of the current fiscal. A part of the fund may be utilised to finance the capital requirement of JetLite, the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, it is learnt. Jet has incurred a net loss of Rs 214 crore during the December quarter, as compared with Rs 91 crore in a year-ago period due to high aviation turbine fuel prices and operational costs. The company’s fuel expenses increased to Rs 1,094 crore during the third quarter as against Rs 917 crore in the same period last year. ATF accounts for 45% of the operating cost for carriers. The company’s bottom line was also impacted by a steep increase in the interest cost that rose to Rs 104 crore during quarter from Rs 70 crore a year ago. “Indian banking system is flush with funds. But lenders are taking a cautious approach to the bleeding aviation industry,” said an analyst with a foreign broking firm. Jet Airways owes Rs 1,000 crore to large oil firms including Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum.