Kingfisher Airlines down 7% in morning trade

Shares of Kingfisher Airlines tumbled by over 7% in morning trade on the bourses today after 10 of its bank accounts were frozen by central tax authorities for non-payment of service tax.

The scrip, which made a weak opening on the bourses, fell further by 7.21% to a low of Rs 23.15 on the BSE in early trade. In a similar fashion, shares of the company witnessed an early low of Rs 23.10 on the NSE, down 7.22% from their previous closing price.

However, the stock recouped some of the losses in later trade and was trading at Rs 23.70 on the BSE, down 5% from its previous closing price, at 1116 hours. On the NSE, Kingfisher Airlines was trading 4.82% lower at Rs 23.70 at 1115 hours.

The Service Tax Department has frozen 10 accounts of Kingfisher Airlines for defaulting on service tax payments over the past five days.

Kingfisher owes about Rs 70 crore to the service tax department.

The BSE benchmark Sensex was trading lower by 233.46 points at 16,254.78 at 1116 hours.