TOKYO (Reuters) – Shares of ANA Holdings Inc fell as much as 4.2% on Tuesday after a report said Japan’s biggest airline plans to issue new shares, seeking to raise around $1.9 billion, as early as this week.
ANA will hold its first share sale since 2012, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing two sources who declined to be identified as the information was not public.
The issuance is expected to raise around 200 billion yen ($1.9 billion), one of the sources said.
In a statement on Tuesday, the airline said nothing had been decided on a new share sale.
Airlines worldwide are struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic that has brought the travel industry to a halt. Although Japan has not been hit as hard as the United States and Europe, its travel industry is suffering.
ANA has forecast a record operating loss of $4.82 billion for the year to end-March and is temporarily transferring more than 400 workers to other companies. Other staff are being asked to take pay cuts or go on unpaid leave.
ANA’s stock was down 1.9% by 0336 GMT, compared to a 2.8% rise in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average, as trading resumed after a long weekend.
Domestic rival Japan Airlines Co Ltd said earlier this month it would raise $1.8 billion in a share sale to strengthen its finances.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift and David Dolan; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Vinay Dwivedi)
