An Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER plane taxis after landing at Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney, Australia, February 22, 2018. REUTERS\/Daniel Munoz<\/p>\n
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March 30 (Reuters) - Air New Zealand Ltd (AIR.NZ) said on Wednesday it would raise NZ$2.2 billion ($1.53 billion) to shore up its pandemic-hit balance sheet and repay a government-liquidity package of NZ$2 billion as New Zealand's international border reopens.<\/p>\n
The equity capital raise will be conducted via a deeply-discounted rights issue and redeemable shares raising NZ$1.8 billion, of which NZ$850 million will be used to repay outstanding debt owed to the New Zealand government, which owns 51.9% of the airline.<\/p>\n
The remaining NZ$950 million will be used to strengthen the balance sheet and aid recovery from the COVID-19 ravages, the carrier said. It has also undertaken a fresh debt of NZ$400 million from the government to provide additional liquidity.<\/p>\n
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\"The timing is right to position our airline for recovery,\" Chairman Therese Walsh told reporters.<\/p>\n
The carrier, which uses a June-end financial year, plans to return to 2019 profit levels by 2025 and to restart dividends by 2026, she said.<\/p>\n
Chief Executive Greg Foran said capacity would reach 90% of pre-pandemic levels by 2025 but would be weighted more toward domestic flights than in the past.<\/p>\n
The two-for-one rights issue will be offered to shareholders on record on April 5 at a 61.5% discount to the last traded price.<\/p>\n
The shares closed at NZ$1.375 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Air New Zealand had last month flagged its worst annual loss since 2001 due to a combination of an Auckland lockdown, expiring government relief schemes, rising fuel prices and an international border closure. read more <\/p>\n
As international borders reopen, the carrier has seen some improvement in sales, prompting the company to forecast an annual underlying loss before tax and significant items to be less than NZ$800 million, lower than its earlier view.<\/p>\n
It logged an underlying loss before tax and one-off charges of NZ$440 million in the last financial year.<\/p>\n
The government earlier this month moved up the opening of international borders to some travellers after more than two years of COVID-19 isolation. read more <\/p>\n
Vaccinated travellers from Australia, New Zealand's biggest source of tourists, can enter the country without the need to quarantine from April 12 rather than July as previously planned.<\/p>\n
Tourists from visa-waiver countries including the United States, Britain and Singapore will now able to visit from May 1.<\/p>\n
($1 = 1.4366 New Zealand dollars)<\/p>\n
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Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru and Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Raju Gopalakrishnan<\/p>\n
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.<\/p>\n
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Air New Zealand to launch $1.5 bln recapitalisation as borders set to reopen - Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER plane taxis after landing at Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney, Australia, February 22, 2018. REUTERS\/Daniel Munoz Register March 30 (Reuters) - Air New Zealand Ltd (AIR.NZ) said on Wednesday it would raise NZ$2.2 billion ($1.53 billion) to shore up its pandemic-hit balance sheet and repay a government-liquidity package of NZ$2 billion as New Zealand's international border reopens. The equity capital raise will be conducted via a deeply-discounted rights issue and redeemable shares raising NZ$1.8 billion, of which NZ$850 million will be used to repay outstanding debt owed to the New Zealand government, which owns 51.9% of the airline Continue reading