British Airways parent IAG seeks £2.5 billion cash boost

IAG said on Friday (31 July) it is seeking to raise €2.75 billion (£2.5 billion) after posting a €4.2 billion (£3.8 billion) first-half loss, down from an €806 million (£730 million) first-half profit this time last year.

The move has been backed by IAG’s largest shareholder Qatar Airways, which holds a 25% stake in the group, and will be put to shareholders for approval in September.

The cash would be underwritten by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank.

IAG also warned in a trading update it did not expect passenger numbers to recover to pre-Covid levels until 2023, and said in a worst case scenario, it would have to reduce total capacity for 2020 by 66%.

The group announced plans earlier this year to cut thousands of jobs and make wide-ranging savings to preserve cash.