Grounded Jet Airways still flying on the bourses, up 44% in 9 days

It would seem beyond common investing logic, but the grounded Jet Airways is still flying on the bourses. Since October 18, Jet scrips on the BSE have gained over 44 per cent and closed on Friday at Rs 24.40 apiece.

The stock, which could be out of most investors' portfolios by now, steadily gained nearly 45 per cent in just the past nine trading sessions, surprising analysts and investors alike.

This is primarily owing to the October 18 announcement that the company shall be the first to undergo insolvency proceedings under the Cross Border Insolvency Protocol included under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), said Amit Gupta, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), TradingBells.

"This could speed up the bankruptcy proceedings, thereby increasing the chances of bringing some quick relief to its shareholders. Those believing that the market has undervalued the debt-ridden company would continue to buy, pushing up the stock prices," Gupta added.

Gupta said that Jet Airways is a distressed stock, undergoing bankruptcy proceedings managed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Although non-operational, Jet is not yet unlisted from the stock exchange and there are people holding on to these shares as trading instruments.

The share price had continuously fallen from Rs 265 levels in April 2019 to Rs 15.45 on October 18, 2019, post which it has been hitting the upper circuit on a regular basis.

In a major breakthrough for India's insolvency mechanism, which is still in its evolving stage, Jet Airways would be the first Indian company to undergo insolvency proceedings under the Cross Border Insolvency Protocol.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had allowed the Dutch court administrator of Jet Airways to attend the meetings of the bankrupt airline's Committee of Creditors (CoC).

The resolution professional and the Dutch administrator, however, filed an application seeking an amendment to the September 26 order providing approval to the Dutch administrator, which the appellate tribunal has accepted.

The grounded Jet Airways owes over Rs 8,000 crore to its lenders. Besides the lenders, the airline is estimated to have a total liability of about Rs 25,000 crore which includes dues of operational creditors.

Jet Airways on April 17 announced temporary suspension of all flight services as it failed to secure interim funding to maintain even the bare minimum operations.