Analyst's Diary: Fighting to stay in flight

"This is an airline that refuses to die". SpiceJet CEO Ajay Singh told the media after raising Rs 3,000 crore from a recent QIP, the first meaningful cash infusion in years for the debt-laden airline. With the offer getting oversubscribed by large institutional investors, D-Street now expects Singh to stick to his words and do what he does best: save the airline from death, like he did back in 2015. The captain knows how it's been done before and he is confident of doing it again. The Rs 3,000-crore capital raise was the latest action of his game plan. The money will be primarily used for ungrounding planes and revive operations. Singh also expects to pay off significant dues owed to lessors and vendors in coming months with an assist from the debt restructuring agreements he's been forging with them. The efforts, Singh believes will help SpiceJet, saddled with a negative net worth of Rs 2,825 crore and losses of Rs 409 crore (as of FY24), turn profits in two to three years. For an airline that has done this before, it should be doable again, theoretically.