India’s SpiceJet “wipes out most debts” with cargo sale

SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int’l) shareholders have approved the transfer of its cargo and logistics business, SpiceXpress and Logistics Private Ltd, to a subsidiary on a “slump sale basis” – without considering its individual values or liabilities – for INR25.56 billion rupees (USD347 million).

The sale, initially revealed three months ago, will bring a one-time gain of this amount to the budget carrier, “wiping out a substantial portion of the company’s negative net worth,” it claimed in a statement on September 22. SpiceJet had a negative net worth of INR33 billion (USD446 million) as of June 30, it said, so the move cuts this back to about INR7.45 billion (USD101 million).

SpiceXpress will operate as an independent entity “with separate and enhanced management focus” and Spicejet will continue to provide certain services to it. Offloading it will also assist in evaluating its business performance.

The shareholders also cleared, through remote e-voting, a proposal to raise up to INR25 billion (USD339 million) through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) – a tool that allows an Indian-listed company to seek capital from domestic markets without the need to submit pre-issue filings to market regulators.

In SpiceJet’s quarterly report for the period ending June 30, released last month, SpiceXpress and Logistics scored a net profit of INR300 million (USD4.1 million), while the company as a whole posted a net loss of INR7.29 billion (USD99 million). The logistics business raked in revenues during the quarter of INR4.73 billion (USD64 million), up 285% year-on-year. SpiceJet said that the logistics arm operates a network of 68 domestic and 110 international destinations.