Mallya on Tuesday
16 Nov 2011
Mumbai: Under fire for the torrid financial performance of his carrier and the ongoing flight cancellations, Kingfisher owner Vijay Mallya spent almost all of Tuesday providing explanations and clarifying issues. Adding to all its woes, the carrier also reported a doubling of losses for the September quarter to Rs469 crore, from Rs231 crore in the year-ago period.
This is the carrier's sixteenth straight quarter of losses.
On Tuesday, Mallya tried to put across his point of view that the carrier's troubles were mainly due to external factors and not because the airline had malfunctioned operationally or mismanaged its product.
He clarified that the carrier had made requests for Rs700-800 crore as working capital loans and term loans to banks and that this position was sustainable. He said he was not taking the banks for granted but that a request had been made and that the company was in a dialogue with the banks.
To balance debts of Rs6,500 crore with equity, Kingfisher would go ahead with plans to raise up to Rs2,000 crore by the end of this financial year via a rights issue, he said.
Despite statements made by lenders, Mallya clarified banks had not officially asked him to put in additional capital.
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