Jet Airways Shares Surge As Naresh Goyal Steps Down From Board

Jet Airways shares surged as much as 17.77 per cent to an intraday hit high of Rs 266 on the BSE as the airline announced that its founder Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal stepped down from board of directors. The exit of Naresh Goyal and Anita Goyal, from the board of the airline they founded 25 years ago, came as part of the resolution plan to rescue the debt-laden Jet Airways from falling into bankruptcy. The group of lenders, led by State Bank of India, will also convert their debt into equity by acquiring 11.4 crore equity shares at 1 rupee per share, Jet Airways said in a regulatory filing post-market hours.

As part of the resolution plan, lenders will provide an immediate funding support of Rs 1,500 crore by way of debt instrument against security of its assets which will restore normalcy to company's level of operations, the filing added.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways said it constituted an Interim Management Committee to monitor its daily operations and cash flow.

Kevin Knight, nominee of Etihad Airways PJSC, also resigned as director from the airline's board, Jet Airways noted.

Saddled with more than $1 billion of debt, Jet is struggling to stay afloat. Jet owes money to banks, suppliers, pilots and lessors - several of whom have started terminating leases with the carrier.

In Monday's trading session, Jet Airways shares ended 12.69 per cent higher at Rs 254.50 on the BSE. The stock outperformed the S&P BSE Sensex which closed 0.9 per cent lower. On the National Stock Exchange, the stock rose 15.46 per cent to close at Rs 261.

The stock saw heightened trading volume. As many as 33.60 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE compared with an average of 9.40 lakh shares traded daily in the past two weeks.