Kingfisher's Q3 loss at $142 million as planes sit idle

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Debt-ridden and with no customers, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd posted a 7.55 billion rupees loss in the three months to December 31 as its planes sat idle, creditors circled and regulators rebuffed the airline's revival plans.

Kingfisher, which has been stripped of its flying licence, owes an estimated $2.5 billion to banks, staff, airports and oil companies.

The airline, once India's second-biggest, has spent the past few months negotiating with its creditors and aviation authorities. Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh has said Kingfisher needs at least $186 million to fly again.

Shares in Kingfisher fell 2 percent on Monday ahead of the results release. Its shares have fallen 56 percent over the past year, making it the third worst-performing global airline in terms of stock price, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine.

 

Kingfisher, controlled by billionaire Vijay Mallya, has never posted a profit in its eight years of operations, and lost a combined 33.1 billion rupees in 2012.

(Reporting by Henry Foy; Additional reporting by Patturaja Murugaboopathy in BANGALORE; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)