IndiGo Q3 net profit nosedives 75% to Rs191 crore
24 Jan 2019
Hit hard by rising fuel prices, low-cost airline IndiGo has reported a 75 per cent fall in its net (after-tax) profit to Rs190.9 crore for the quarter ended December 2018. IndiGo had reported a net profit of Rs762 crore in the comparable quarter of the previous year.
In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the airline said its profitability was adversely affected by high fuel prices and currency depreciation.
“Though we have seen a reduction in fuel prices this quarter as compared to the previous quarter, on a year-on-year basis, fuel prices are 31 per cent higher and the rupee has weakened by 11 per cent,” Rahul Bhatia, airline founder and interim chief executive officer, said in a conference call.
Bhatia said the airline added 19 aircraft in the latest quarter and ended the year with 208 aircraft. He said that during the last one year, the airline had taken delivery of 55 aircraft, which was roughly one aircraft a week.
During the quarter, the airline reported a total income of Rs8,229.4 crore, an increase of 28.4 per cent over the same period of the previous fiscal. For the October-December 2018-19 quarter, passenger ticket revenues stood at Rs7,065.9 crore, an increase of 32.8 per cent, and ancillary revenues stood at Rs805.1 crore, an increase of 15 per cent.
The EBITDAR or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation, and rent/restructuring before exceptional items stood at Rs1,681.4 crore with an EBITDAR margin of 21.2 per cent for the quarter ended December 2018 compared to an EBITDAR of Rs2,001.9 crore with a margin of 32.4 per cent for the same period last year.
The airline said it had a strong balance sheet with total cash of Rs14,136.1 crore, including free cash of Rs4,618.3 crore and restricted cash of Rs9,517.8 crore as of 31 December last year.
Basic earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter stood at Rs4.97, Bhati said.
Speaking about domestic operations, Bhatia said the airline had increased its daily domestic departures by 75 flights during the quarter.
Bhatia also announced that IndiGo was planning to start direct flights to Istanbul in March and commence service to other global destinations as the year progresses.