No sponsor - why the vitrol?
The advisors are Panmure Gordon & Co; Deloitte have no involvement.
FT article in full:
Maxjet in last-ditch talks
By Kevin Done, Aerospace Correspondent
Published: December 23 2007 20:40 | Last updated: December 23 2007 20:40
The fate of Maxjet Airways, the struggling US all-business class airline, is expected to be announced today, as last-ditch efforts continued at the weekend to put together a financial rescue package.
Trading in London in the shares of Maxjet, one of the new breed of all-business class long-haul airlines, was suspended two-and-a-half weeks ago.
The only statement it has issued since came two weeks ago, when it said it was operating all flights and had no plans to change its schedule. It said advance bookings remained strong.
Maxjet started flying transatlantic services in November 2005 between Stansted and New York JFK airports. It has since opened additional routes between Stansted and Los Angeles and Las Vegas and has offered the widest scheduled long-haul network from Stansted.
It raised net proceeds of £47.3m in an initial public offering in June, becoming the second all-business airline after Silverjet, its UK rival, to list on London’s Alternative Investment Market. In previous funding rounds it had raised about $88m in private placements.
It has faced mounting losses, however, in the face of surging fuel prices and lower-than-expected fare yields. Higher maintenance costs for its ageing fleet of Boeing 767 aircraft have also depressed its financial performance.
After being launched at 138p a share, Maxjet shares rose briefly to a peak of 140p, but have declined steeply in recent months, falling to a low of 73½p before trading was halted.
The search for financial backing has been made more difficult by deteriorating world financial markets.
Maxjet had a net loss of $49.5m in the first six months of the year, as it was hit by higher than expected costs from aircraft maintenance and rising fuel prices, as it expanded its transatlantic operations. It made a net loss of $79m in 2006, its first full year of operations, on turnover of $41.1m.