This article appears in tonight's London Evening Standard:
BUSINESS class-only carrier Silverjet has come back to investors for another £25 million just 10 weeks after the launch of its daily transatlantic services between Luton and New York.
Silverjet raised £25 million at its flotation ten months ago but since then has incurred around £21 million of extra costs that it had not envisaged but which should save it money in the longer term.
The carrier founded and led by Lawrence Hunt, a scion of the Foyles bookshop family, said today it is raising just short of £25 million after expenses with the placing of nearly 14.5 million shares at 180p, a discount to last night's closing price.
The shares today increased 31/2p to 190p, more than 50% higher than where they started last summer after Hunt said Silverjet is expected to smash City expectations this year following a far better-than-expected launch.
Figures from the carrier today showed its 100-seater specially-customised Boeing 767s and 757s flew 59% full in March, close to financial breakeven and a stunning start for a fledgling airline using an unproven business model of flying business class-only and up against two American rivals Eos and Maxjet, which launched in the market first.
'We are delighted by the investor appetite for Silverjet stock which we believe reflects our ongoing success and strong prospects,' said Hunt.
The extra costs have come through the acquisition aircraft leases - when it previously expected to hire aircraft - and the refurbishment of its own lounge at Luton airport rather than piggybacking another airline's facilities.