TOKYO (Reuters) – Shares of Japan’s ANA Holdings Inc on Tuesday sank as much as 4.2% after sources said the country’s biggest airline plans to raise about 200 billion yen ($1.9 billion) by selling new shares to bolster its balance sheet.
ANA Holdings will hold its first share sale since 2012, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing two sources who declined to be identified because the information was not public.
Airlines around the globe are struggling to ride out a pandemic that has cast a dark shadow across the global travel industry. Although Japan hasn’t been hit as hard as the United States and Europe, its travel industry is suffering.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday that nothing has been decided on new share sale.
ANA’s stock was down 2.9%, as of 0130 GMT, against a 2.6% jump in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average, as trading in Tokyo resumed after a long weekend.
The airline has forecast a record operating loss of $4.82 billion for the year through March 31 due to the pandemic.
Domestic rival Japan Airlines Co Ltd said earlier this month that it would raise $1.8 billion in a share sale to strengthen its finances.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
