AIM newcomer Advent Air has raised £725,000 at 10p to raise its stake in Australian airline Skywest.

Advent, an antipodean airline operator chaired by Jeff Chatfield, already holds 62 per cent of Skywest, which is paying it a dividend of £180,000 after making a net £595,000 in the year to last June on revenues of £19 million. Skywest holds a three-year exclusive licence to operate a coastal air network in Western Australia.

Smaller company investment specialist Loeb Aron was agent for the placing, priced at a 31 per cent discount to today's market price of 14.5p. At the same time, Advent has issued 1.8 million shares to avionics components concer, Janco International, as part of a share-swap deal to consolidate Singapore-based investment company Captive Vision Capital, now a wholly owned subsidiary, into Advent.

As a result, Janco now has a 19 per cent holding in Advent. John Jost, an Advent director, holds 3.6 per cent following recent share purchases.