CAPA > Aviation News > Spirit files for USD300m IPO to repay debts; losses of USD2.8m in 1H2010

Spirit Airlines filed with the US Securities Regulators to raise up to USD300 million in an IPO (Reuters/Bloomberg, 18-Sep-2010). The LCC stated it would retain USD150 million of the net proceeds and use the remaining funds to repay debt and as a termination fee for professional services with Indigo Partners. The carrier reportedly owed USD264 million on notes as of 30-Jun-2010, including principal and accrued and unpaid interest. The carrier added that it posted a net loss of USD2.8 million in the six months ended 30-Jun-2010, compared with a net profit of USD41.5 million in 1H2009, with the results being affected by a pilots strike which hit booking levels.

---

You may also be interested in the following articles...

• Jazeera Airways and Air Arabia stick to their models and report double-digit increases in profits
  11-May-2012

  Business is booming for LCCs in the Middle East. The two oldest low-cost airlines in the region – Air Arabia and Jazeera Airways – have both reported profitable first quarters, as the regional political environment cools and oil prices begin to trend back from their highs earlier in the year.

  Both airlines have positive outlooks for this year. Jazeera Airways just reported its seventh consecutive quarterly profit – a record run of profitability for the airline – and aims to continue the success with its new strategic management plan (STAMP). Air Arabia achieved a double-digit increase in profit during the first quarter and the carrier plans to continue to enter new markets and launch new business ventures this year.

• Viable business models continue to evade US regional airlines
  13-Mar-2012

  Consolidation in the US regional airline industry has failed to mirror the success achieved by the country’s network carriers after the latest round of mergers were completed between Delta-Northwest and United-Continental. The tie-ups in the regional sector have only intensified cost pressures at the consolidating carriers, which have left them searching for a viable long-term business model. In the short term, some of those airlines are attempting to work with their major partners to ease the cost inflation, but it is far from certain if legacy airlines intend to show any sympathy to their feeder partners.

  The two largest US regional operators, SkyWest and Republic Airways Holdings, bled a combined USD150 million in losses in 2011 as they endured pain from their attempts to stabilise their business in an uncertain regional marketplace. SkyWest faced a reality check in meeting financial milestones it aimed to achieve through its acquisition of ExpressJet while Republic spent the majority of 2011 wringing USD120 million of costs from its low-cost subsidiary Frontier Airlines. Pinnacle Airlines, in the midst of its own internal restructuring, has pushed back the release of its 2011 financial results.