Lenders seek "inside" details of Kingfisher

 

"We have requested a more detailed presentation for us to figure out how their business is moving forward, what is their securities structure and what are the kind of things happening inside the system," a banker told reporters after the meeting of lenders to Kingfisher Airlines.

"Once we understand clearly, which we couldn't today, we could probably take a call," he said, adding, "We have also requested Chairman Vijay Mallya himself to come and make a presentation at the next meeting likely this month itself".

The financially crippled airline has 17 lenders, led by the State Bank, which has an exposure of Rs 1,500 crore to the airline.

Kingfisher has not been servicing its nearly Rs 7,000 crore long-term bank loans since January. It has also not been paying salaries to its employees regularly, or statutory taxes.

The banker further said, "We want to know what are the things they want to do to repay our loans, in the short, medium and long term. There should be clarity."

Apart from this huge debt, the airline also has an accumulated loss of over Rs 8,000 crore. Since its launch in May 2005, the airline has not made profit.

The meeting was significant in the wake of a recent report by industry analyst Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) which cast doubts on continuation of airline's operations if it is unable to infuse USD 600 million immediately.

The last meeting of the lenders took place in July, wherein they appointed HDFC Securities to value a pledged property--the Kingfisher House in Mumbai.