State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday said there was no need for lenders to panic as the strapped Kingfisher Airlines is looking for a solution to emerge from crisis.
"Kingfisher had been a good airline. They are going through problems. And there is no reason for bankers to panic as long as they say that they are looking for a solution. "The assurance only is that they are trying," SBI Managing Director Diwakar Gupta told reporters at the Delhi Economics Conclave here. SBI is the lead banker in the 17-lender consortium that extended Rs 7,000 crore loans to the now grounded Kingfisher Airlines.
It has an exposure of Rs 1,500 crore to the carrier, which has not been serviced since January, 2012. Kingfisher has been attempting to raise the much-needed capital. It said earlier this week, "We would like to clarify that the company is in discussions with various investors, including Etihad Airways, for equity investments."
Kingfisher has not reported any profit since inception in 2005. It has debt over Rs 7,000 crore and unpaid interest since January and over Rs 1,000 crore in vendor and tax arrears.