Go Air (Go First) IPO DRHP Takeaways About Go Air
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www.jstinvestments.com Go Air (Go First) IPO DRHP Takeaways About Go Air Go First is an Indian ultra-low-cost airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is owned by the Indian business conglomerate Wadia Group. It commenced operations in November 2005 and operates a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft in all economy configurations. As of May 13, 2021, the airline has been renamed as Go First - with the motto "You Come First". They have placed firm orders for delivery of 144 Airbus A320 NEO aircraft. Of these, they have taken delivery of 46 Airbus A320 NEO aircraft. The rest 98 Airbus A320 NEO aircrafts are scheduled to be delivered from 2021 onwards, subject to any delivery advancements or deferrals to be negotiated with Airbus. They expect these deliveries to increase their operating fleet to 60 and 71 aircraft, net of retirements, by the end of Fiscals 2022 and 2023, respectively. They operate a fleet of 55 aircraft as of March 31, 2021, all of which are Airbus A320 aircraft of which 46 aircraft utilize engines from Pratt & Whitney. (Note here that Indigo also used A320 and A320 neos that have same engine) Issue Size & Objects of Issue
Transcript of Go Air (Go First) IPO DRHP Takeaways About Go Air
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Go Air (Go First) IPO DRHP Takeaways
About Go Air
Go First is an Indian ultra-low-cost airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is owned by the
Indian business conglomerate Wadia Group. It commenced operations in November 2005
and operates a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft in all economy configurations. As of May 13,
2021, the airline has been renamed as Go First - with the motto "You Come First".
They have placed firm orders for delivery of 144 Airbus A320 NEO aircraft. Of these, they have taken delivery of 46 Airbus A320 NEO aircraft. The rest 98 Airbus A320 NEO aircrafts are scheduled to be delivered from 2021 onwards, subject to any delivery advancements or deferrals to be negotiated with Airbus. They expect these deliveries to increase their operating fleet to 60 and 71 aircraft, net of retirements, by the end of Fiscals 2022 and 2023, respectively. They operate a fleet of 55 aircraft as of March 31, 2021, all of which are Airbus A320 aircraft of which 46 aircraft utilize engines from Pratt & Whitney. (Note here that Indigo also used A320 and A320 neos that have same engine)
Issue Size & Objects of Issue
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Pre IPO Placement
The company may do a pre ipo placement (through preferential issue or any other method)
of Rs 1500 Cr (after consultation with BRLMs). If this is done, issue size will reduce by the
Pre-IPO size.
Airfares Scuttlebutt
Mumbai Delhi Route, 31st May
Indigo - 6 am - 4683 Rs | Go Air - 6 am - 4682 Rs | Spicejet - 7 am - 4683 Rs
(I checked for Delhi Mumbai route for 31 may too, again Indigo and SpiceJet were just 1 rs
expensive than Go Air)
This just shows how cut throat the airline business is, the prices are exact same!
Promoters
The Promoters of Company are Nusli Neville Wadia, Jehangir Nusli Wadia , Ness Nusli Wadia
and Go Investments
Risks
Litigations
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22.55% of the company is pledged!
Three CEO changes in the past three years.
April to June 2020 - 3,800 employees furloughed Continuous Fundraising – Rs 97 cr equity + nonfund based support of 50 Mn USD through subsidiary in Singapore-Fiscal 2020 | 500 cr line of credit from ICICI bank + 342 Cr from Deutsche Bank (fully availed)- Fiscal 2021 | 546 Cr recently raised as equity from promoter group
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Feb 2020 to March 2021 - received several notices from lessors notifying the failure of rental
payments | 4 lessors have issued default notices relating to 24 aircraft, the amount claimed
is US$35.75 mn (a 264 cr amount is not being paid, scary)
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The company has a new auditor every year
The average fleet on the ground was 1, 8 & 9 in Fiscals 2018, 2019, and 2020 respectively
(P&W engine issues)
Related Party transactions
Go Air had been surviving on the inter corporate loans from Wadia group companies
(Britannia, National peroxide, BBTC, Macrofils investment limited)
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Balance Sheet
Alarmingly low cash and cash equivalent of Rs 11.6 Cr
Negative equity capital
See the image to verify what constitutes other financial assets and other current assets
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P&L
Costs increasing continuously
Finance cost also a burden
Cash Flows
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Valuations
No point talking about valuations as the company is a loss making entity (negative EPS and
negative net worth)
Conclusion
I believe that time is running out for Go Air. Yes, it’s really scary and expensive to be an
airline owner given this environment (Dollar rate, crude prices, fleet grounded due to
lockdowns) and we saw in related party transactions too in previous years, Go Air got capital
from Wadia group companies but when the shareholders of that listed company started
questioning, they dialled it down. Their fund sources are limited and hence seems like the
IPO is their ‘ticket’ to keep the airline ‘flying’ and not let it run into ‘turbulence’.
The aviation sector is going through a lot of pain and Go Air even more given lots of losses,
poor market share, and poor operating structure that leaves no 'leg room' for investors.
Indigo with the largest market share of 54%+ decides everything and it has cash on its
balance sheet with more 3000 Cr being raised through QIP (board approved the raise.)
Indigo can definitely do predatory pricing and bleed its competitors.
In light of all this, the answer to the IPO is quite obvious. But what will happen in the
markets is left to be seen – it is very well possible that the IPO gets lapped up by investors.
Because if there is one thing we have seen in FY20 and FY21 – Anything is possible in
markets!
Thanks for reading till the end!
If you would like to add anything or give any feedback or would like to appreciate the article, reach
out to me on twitter – aditya_kondawar or email me at [email protected]!
