SpiceJet shares surge to 50%, Indigo up 29% in November

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | Byhindustantimes.com | Edited by Ayshee Bhaduri

Nov 19, 2020 03:31 PM IST

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SpiceJet’s fortunes have also been favoured by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has cleared the return of Boeing MAX aircraft for operations.

Shares of SpiceJet Ltd have surged to over 50% and those of Indigo were not far behind with a rise of nearly 29% in the month of November so far even as data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has shown there has been a recovery in domestic passenger traffic.

SpiceJet’s fortunes have also been favoured by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which has cleared the return of Boeing MAX aircraft for operations(PTI)

As of 12:55pm, SpiceJet was trading at Rs.75.60 on NSE up by 14.64% from the previous day, and Rs.74.55 on BSE marking a surge by 12.36% as of 1:50pm. This has the most during the course of a trading day since December 2019 and has also been at its highest since March this year. Around the same time Interglobe Aviation Ltd, the parent company of Indigo, was trading at Rs 1,696.50 on NSE and Rs 1697.05 on BSE, down by 0.32% and 0.30% respectively.

SpiceJet’s fortunes have also been favoured by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has cleared the return of Boeing MAX aircraft for operations. The Boeing 737 MAX was grounded after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed all the passengers on-board. DGCA has asked for “some time” to study the FAA report before taking a final call on allowing Boeing 737 MAX back on the air, according to news agency PTI.

SpiceJet had grounded 13 Boeing 737 MAX and was incurring significant losses from their non-operation, the management declared while announcing their September quarter results. MAX planes are fuel-efficient and help in reducing operational costs, ideal for budget domestic carriers like SpiceJet. According to a Bloomberg analysis, SpiceJet expects the 737 fleet to be initiated back into operation by the first quarter of 2021.

HSBC Global Research said on Wednesday that robust cargo revenue and deferred expenses have helped the airline report better-than-expected second-quarter results. It upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, and raised its price target to Rs 80 from Rs 26.5 apiece earlier as it cited abatement of the carrier’s survival risk. It added that the management has taken correct and timely steps that have helped it weather the storms in the business.

The report also stated that earlier the shares of Spicejet floundered because of questions about its survival after 13 Boeing Max planes were grounded. However, now the survival risk has abated and the low-cost carrier reported a consolidated loss of only Rs 105.6 crore for the September quarter, which was much less than what was initially expected.