Finnair plans to raise €500 million ($565 million) with a share offering in an effort to boost flagging liquidity resulting from Covid 19-related traffic declines, the airline said in a statement issued Wednesday. The subscription period for the share offer starts on June 17 and ends on July 1. Shares will trade on the Nasdaq Helsinki exchange between June 17 and June 25. The Finnish government, which holds some 55.9 percent of the airline’s outstanding shares, has committed to fully subscribe.
The European Commission on June 9 approved the country’s participation under the condition that its share in the company would not increase, apart from slight technical variations related to the mechanics of the offering. In return, the Finnish government has agreed to limitations on management pay from 2020 through 2022 and restrictions on acquisitions of more than 10 percent of competitors or other operators in the same line of business.
The offering accounts for part of Finnair's wider recapitalization plan for 2020, which includes entry into a new €600 million pension premium loan agreement and possible sale and leaseback arrangements involving unencumbered aircraft. The government of Finland has guaranteed 90 percent of the pension premium loan’s principal, while Nordea Bank has guaranteed the remaining 10 percent.
“Finnair is determined to continue on its long-term strategic path despite temporary adjustments related to the Covid 19 pandemic and aims to ensure that the company remains a competitive airline company in the future,” said the airline in its statement. “The company’s management believes that air traffic will, upon expiration of the Covid 19-related travel restrictions, still be a growth business, in which Finnair targets sustainable, profitable growth, supported by a strategy based on a geographical competitive advantage and strong ownership structure.”
Although Finnair’s May passenger numbers showed a 65 percent increase over April’s figures, it carried only 26,700 passengers, which amounts to 97.7 percent less than in the same period in 2019. Overall capacity measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs) decreased in May by 97.7 percent year-over-year, while revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) fell 99.1 percent, resulting in a 49.9-point drop in load factor to 29.9 percent.
While all passenger traffic figures reflect Covid 19 effects, Asian and North Atlantic declines figured most prominently in the declines because Finnair operated no scheduled flights to those destinations in May. In Europe, meanwhile, RPKs fell by 98 percent and domestic RPKs by 95.3 percent.