SpiceJet says it received interest from Gulf airlines

Indian budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd., which has surged more than 280 percent this year, said it’s received interest from Gulf airlines looking to acquire a stake.
“Some of the Gulf airlines have expressed an interest in SpiceJet as we have come back into the market, but this is not the right time to be diluting the equity,” Chairman Ajay Singh said in Dubai yesterday, without naming the companies. “There is some dialogue which is ongoing and we continue to explore other types of relationships we could have,” he said, adding now isn’t the right time to sell a stake as the shares remain undervalued.
Gulf carriers including Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways PJSC and Qatar Airways Ltd. have acquired stakes in airlines to quickly expand their networks. Etihad has stakes in eight companies, while Qatar Airways Ltd. said earlier this month that it was interested in boosting its 10 percent holding in British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA and taking up to 49 percent of Indian budget carrier IndiGo.
SpiceJet is planning to order new planes after co-founder Singh rescued the company from the verge of shutdown last year. After reporting a profit for the past three quarters, the airline is planning to finalize an order for over 150 single- aisle jets from either Boeing Co. or Airbus Group SE during the current financial year, which ends March 31, Singh said. The company is also planning an additional order of up to 50 regional jets and is in talks with suppliers including Bombardier Inc., he said.
“Spicejet is generating enough cash internally to sustain those orders,” said Singh. “If we need to raise any money to fund those orders, which looks unlikely at this time, there are enough unutilised credit lines available to us.”
New aircraft would be used to open new routes and increase the frequency of flights to existing destinations, he said. SpiceJet currently has 25 Boeing 737 jets, two Airbus planes, and 14 Bombardier aircraft and flies to 40 destinations, including the Maldives, Dubai and Sri Lanka and 34 domestic locations. Matthew Martin, Bloomberg

Citic, Haitong, Guosen probed on alleged margin-trading breaches

China’s securities regulator is investigating Citic Securities Co., Haitong Securities Co. and Guosen Securities Co. over alleged breaches of rules on margin and short-selling contracts.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission probes involve contracts the three brokerages signed with clients on margin finances and short-selling, according to exchange filings by the companies Sunday. The firms said their operations will remain normal and they will cooperate with the regulator.
Shares of Chinese brokerages led a decline in China stocks on Friday, with Citic down by the 10 percent daily limit in Shanghai. Haitong shares dropped 3.8 percent before trading was suspended in Hong Kong. Both companies said they received notices from the CSRC on Nov. 26 about the probes. Guosen Securities closed 10 percent lower on Friday in Shenzhen.
The Chinese government has stepped up its clampdown on malpractice in the securities industry after a USD5 trillion stock-market rout this summer. The crackdown since the sell-off has ensnared executives and regulators. The Securities Association of China on Friday banned brokerages from entering into new client contracts that use derivatives to provide financing in stock trading.
Citic President Cheng Boming was held for alleged insider trading and leaking information, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported in September.