Silverjet rebuffed a City analyst’s note suggesting the business-only carrier would not survive without fresh injections of cash, saying it contained “numerous mistakes and inaccuracies”.
The note, issued by broker Daniel Stewart, predicted the carrier would continue to report losses and is “likely to fail”. “The fate of the business will depend upon shareholders’ willingness to put up more equity,” it told investors.
However, in a statement to the City, Silverjet said the broker’s note exaggerated the cost of its operations by £60,000 per return flight, suggested a £9.7 million maintenance bill was payable this year rather than over ten years, and estimated its turnover on a fleet of three aircraft when the carrier will have five from March.
“The directors remain confident Silverjet will achieve its first month of profit before tax in the current financial year,” said the statement.
Silverjet began flying from Luton to New York Newark a year ago with a single business-class cabin and now operates on this route twice a day as well as once daily to Dubai.
The rebuttal saw its share price climb 15% on Tuesday following a 28% fall when the report appeared.