Shares of SpiceJet nosedived 20 per cent on Tuesday hitting a fresh 52-week low. The stock hit a day’s low of Rs 22.65, before recouping some losses. Currently, the shares are trading at Rs 24 on the NSE, down 14.5 per cent.
SpiceJet has been in a conundrum of losing market share, grounded aircraft and illiquidity. And despite the troubled days SpiceJet is celebrating its 18 glorious years of flying high in the Indian skies. The stock has been on the downslide since its competitor GoFirst filed for insolvency. Investors and lessors fear that SpiceJet would go the same route after defaulting on rental payments.
On a year-to-date basis, the shares were down 40 per cent despite a rebound in travel demand for the overall industry. On the other hand, rival IndiGo has gained about 12 per cent during the period.
The woes of SpiceJet have worsened over the past few months amid financial crunch and several grounded aircraft. The airline has defaulted on lease rental payments and is in negotiations with lessors for two years now to restructure them.
The company had earlier clarified that it has no intention to file for bankruptcy in a bid to assuage business partners even as lessors are pushing the airline to clear their dues.
The company on Tuesday said it aims to bring 4 of the 25 grounded aircraft back to service by June 15 and more aircraft will return to operations in the following weeks. The airline is targeting the return of two Boeing 737s and two Q400s.
“SpiceJet plans to start a slew of flights including two international UDAN flights on the theAgartala-Chattogram-Agartala and Imphal-Mandalay-Imphal sectors by June end. The airline also plans to launch a new UDAN flight on the Kolkata-Tezpur-Kolkata sector and restart Kolkata-Gwalior-Kolkata and Jammu-Gwalior-Jammu UDAN flights. In addition, SpiceJet will launch flights on Kolkata-Agartala-Kolkata and Kolkata-Imphal-Kolkata sectors and restart flights on the Kolkata-Chattogram-Kolkata sector,” the company said.
Among the listed as well as the unlisted aviation players, IndiGo is the market leader with 55.7 per cent share, while SpiceJet has 6.9 per cent, as of March quarter.
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