Kingfisher Airlines slumps to record low on escalating crisis

Kingfisher Airlines tumbled 10.37% to Rs 19.45 at 14:41 IST on BSE after the company was reportedly forced to cancel dozens of flights amid a burgeoning crisis.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 152.48 points, or 0.88%, to 17,209.62

On BSE, 60.67 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 6.69 lakh shares in the past one quarter.



The stock hit a record low of Rs 17.55 in intraday trade today, 11 November 2011. It hit a high of Rs 20.70 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 90.40 on 10 November 2010.

The mid-cap stock outperformed the market over the past one month till 9 November 2011, advancing 7.69% compared with the Sensex's 6.96% gain. The scrip had underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 30.23% as against 2.99% rise in the Sensex.

The private sector air carrier has equity capital of Rs 497.78 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Kingfisher Airlines has reportedly canceled more than 120 flights this week as pilots and crew called in sick after their October salaries were delayed. However in the same report, the airline said flights were canceled because it was reconfiguring planes. Another report said leasing companies had asked Kingfisher to return their planes after the company fell behind on payments.

The country's airline industry has been hit by rising fuel costs and a price war among low cost airliners. In September 2011, Kingfisher had announced intentions to recast its business model by doing away with its low-cost service Kingfisher Red.

Kingfisher Airlines reported net loss of Rs 263.54 crore for Q1 June 2011, higher than net loss of Rs 187.35 crore for Q1 June 2010. The company attributed higher first quarter loss to a 40% increase in the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF). Net sales rose 14.7% to Rs 1881.64 crore in Q1 June 2011 over Q1 June 2010.