Bahrain to inject USD1bn in fresh funding into Gulf Air

Gulf Air confirmed the Bahraini Government plans to invest more than USD1 billion in fresh capital into the loss-making carrier to improve its balance sheet and facilitate its restructure (AP/Reuters/Trade Arabia/Manama, 19-Oct-2010). The government raised the carrier's authorised share capital in the carrier by an additional SAR400 million (USD1.06 billion) for a total capital of SAR530 million and described the move as the airline's first "capital restructuring" since Bahrain assumed full ownership in Nov-2007. The company expects to use the additional funds for ongoing restructuring costs. Gulf Air reportedly plans to break even in two to three years after making a loss of USD502 million in 2009. Gulf Air is fully owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain through Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company.