All airlines are feeling the coronavirus pinch but one that hasn\u2019t flown since April 2019 after collapsing under a pile of debt is the world\u2019s best performing — at least from a share price point of view.<\/p>\n
Stock in Mumbai-listed Jet Airways India Ltd. has surged almost 150% this year versus a 42% plunge in the 27-member Bloomberg World Airlines Index, which comprises the globe\u2019s biggest carriers.<\/p>\n
Its runaway gains have market watchers scratching their heads, especially since Jet Airways is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, has almost 17,000 creditors seeking claims of around $3.4 billion and has had most of its landing slots confiscated. It doesn\u2019t have any employees to speak of, either.<\/p>\n
A panel of creditors did approve a resolution plan last month, bringing the recovery of any dues one step closer, but that doesn\u2019t guarantee a resumption of flights.<\/p>\n
Retail investors are the last ones to get anything out of a bankruptcy, yet some are buying in the hope Jet Airways will successfully emerge from a restructuring, said Ajay Srivastava, managing director of advisory firm Dimensions Corporate Finance Services. The airline isn\u2019t being thought of as a going concern, but a shell containing assets that may be sold, he said.<\/p>\n
In its heyday, Jet Airways was India\u2019s No. 1 private carrier, taking on the monopoly of state-run Air India Ltd. and offering intercontinental voyages with free gourmet meals and in-flight entertainment. But a slew of budget carriers that offered no frills, ultra-cheap tickets ate into its market share and Jet Airways started to drown in debt.<\/p>\n
The resolution plan for Jet Airways was submitted by two individuals, Murari Lal Jalan and Florian Fritsch, exchange filings show. Jalan is a businessman with investments in India, Russia and Uzbekistan. Fritsch is the chairman of Kalrock Capital Management Ltd., a London-based financial advisory and alternative asset manager. The filings don\u2019t state how the men plan to restructure the airline.<\/p>\n
Ashish Chhawchharia, the court-appointed professional running Jet Airways\u2019 insolvency, didn\u2019t respond to a request for further information. Jalan, who is based in Dubai according to media reports, couldn\u2019t immediately be reached for comment. Manoj Madnani, described as a board member of the Jalan Kalrock consortium, asked last week that questions be sent over email and hasn\u2019t immediately replied.<\/p>\n
Other investors may be hoping Jet Airways goes \u201cthe Ruchi Soya way,\u201d Srivastava said, with reference to a food company run by a yoga guru whose shares rocketed on thin volumes after an insolvency plan was approved.<\/p>\n
Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd. was acquired by a consortium led by Baba Ramdev\u2019s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. late last year. The founders held 99% of Ruchi Soya\u2019s capital as of March 31. Its shares surged almost 500-fold on tiny volumes before pairing gains.<\/p>\n
To limit that scenario in future, India\u2019s securities regulator is considering changing the rules for firms emerging from bankruptcy, proposing that companies that relist have six months to boost their free float to at least 10%, down from 18 months currently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
All airlines are feeling the coronavirus pinch but one that hasn\u2019t flown since April 2019 after collapsing under a pile of debt is the world\u2019s best performing — at least from a share price point of view. Stock in Mumbai-listed Jet Airways India Ltd. has surged almost 150% this year versus a 42% plunge in the 27-member Bloomberg World Airlines Index, which comprises the globe\u2019s biggest carriers. Its runaway gains have market watchers scratching their heads, especially since Jet Airways is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, has almost 17,000 creditors seeking claims of around $3.4 billion and has had most of its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-382127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-civil-aviation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}