Kingfisher to sell stake only after it makes profits: Mallya
18 Sep 2007
Kingfisher Airlines may sell shares to investors after it becomes profitable, to expand its operations in India and abroad, UB group chairman Vijay Mallya said in an interview in London on Friday 14 September. However, that will not be until the end of the next financial year, in 2009.
Until then, the UB Group will continue to fund the carrier''s expansion. Kingfisher operates about 187 flights everyday. Mallya also said that any stake sale will "only be at the right price".
India''s air travel market is estimated to surge sixfold to 180 million passengers by 2020, the government said in April.
Mallya also said that Kingfisher plans to start flights to the US by April, to tap the lucrative North American market.
Kingfisher subsidiary Air Deccan, however, expects to become profitable before its parent, in the April-June quarter of 2008, by raising its fares. Deccan''s average yield per seat is about Rs2,600 ($64) compared with Kingfisher''s average yield per seat of Rs4,400 ($109).
Mallya''s
fare-raising turnaround exercise hopes to raise Deccan''s average yield per seat
to Rs3,200 ($79). Air Deccan reported a loss of Rs213 crore ($52.66 million) for
the quarter ended 31 March, owing to higher fuel costs combined with deeply discounted
tickets.