Mumbai: Shares of grounded carrier Jet Airways India Ltd have inexplicably surged over 50% in the last eight session even as the airline is not operating for more than six months.
The stock has hit 5% upper circuit for eight trading sessions with gaining 50.49% in this period. At 11.24 am, the stock was trading at ₹22.60 on BSE, up 5% from its previous close. So far this year the script has fallen by 92%.
On 17 April, Jet Airways suspended operations owing to a severe cash crunch. A consortium of 26 banks led by the State Bank of India has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to recover dues of more than ₹8,500 crore. The airline has had negative net worth for long and has run a loss of more than ₹13,000 crore in the past few years. Its total liabilities amount to more than ₹15,000 crore. Lenders of Jet Airways have been trying to sell the beleaguered airline as a going concern for the past five months.
While the lenders received initial interest from potential bidders such as Etihad Airways PJSC, India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and private equity firms TPG Capital and Indigo Partners but none of them placed binding bids later.
Mint reported on September 3 that Synergy Group which runs several airlines in South America, including Colombian carrier Avianca Holdings, the region’s second largest airline, was willing to take a majority stake in the grounded Jet Airways if lenders agree to take a deep haircut and convert their debt into equity.
