By Neville D’Cruz Bernama – Monday, July 13

MELBOURNE, July 13 (Bernama) — Shares in Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd have gone into a trading halt amid speculation that the carrier will undertake a capital raising.

A statement from the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday said shares in Virgin Blue would be placed in pre-open, pending the release of an announcement by the company.

Shares in Virgin Blue closed on Friday at Australian 30.5 cents.

There is speculation that Virgin Blue, which is largely owned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, could be planning a capital raising of up to A$400 million to strengthen its balance sheet.

The carrier, which launched its international offshoot V Australia in February, reported a net loss of A$101 million for the half-year ended Dec 31 amid the “most challenging demand environment ever”.

That compared to a net profit of A$113 million in the previous corresponding half. — BERNAMA

NDC TOM