Budget airline EasyJet has sought to raise up to £450m via a share placement to help it navigate the Covid-19 pandemic after reporting a bigger first-half loss.
The airline, which grounded its fleet on March 30, has said it does not expect passenger demand to recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2023.
The company said it would raise £400-450m by placing up to 59.5 million shares, equivalent to 15% of its share capital.
A bookrunner said the placement was oversubscribed, adding the shares would be priced at 703 pence each, a 5% discount to last night's close.
"We have been decisive in meeting the challenges of the pandemic," chief executive Johan Lundgren said, noting the airline had already secured £1.7 billion of an expected £2 billion in additional funding.
EasyJet said more customers than expected had rebooked or taken a voucher instead of a refund.
That, combined with the share placement, a government-backed loan and other measures, should give it an higher-than-expected cash balance of more than £3 billion, it said.
The airline, which has joined a legal challenge to the UK's newly-introduced quarantine rules, plans to ramp-up flights in the next two months after restarting a minimal service last week.
It aims to operate 30% of planned pre-Covid-19 capacity in its fourth fiscal quarter and pointed to "encouraging" bookings for EasyJet Holidays, but did not provide financial guidance.
EasyJet said "underlying" trading was ahead of expectations, although its pretax loss widened to £353m for the six months ended March 31 from £272m a year ago as flying restrictions rendered fuel hedges ineffective.
The company also said it would begin a "progressive" employee consultation process this month, having already announced it will cut 4,500 jobs.
It said it will resume flights on international routes to Paris, Milan and Barcelona from Britain on July 1 as it aims to restore some capacity for the summer.
The airline started operating a small number of mainly domestic flights last week, and is aiming to resume flying on three-quarters of its routes by August, at lower frequencies than usual and with extra safety measures in place.
