IndiGo's Q4 net surges 401% as FY19 profit plummets 93%
28 May 2019
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India’s largest airline IndiGo on Monday reported a net profit of Rs589.6 crore for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018-19, a 401.3 per cent increase from Rs117.6 crore in the January-March 2017-18 quarter, gaining from an increase in the number of passengers following the grounding of top carrier Jet Airways.
Revenue, during the period, grew 35.46 per cent to Rs8,259.81 crore from Rs6,097.68 crore in the year ago quarter.
IndiGo flew 15.7 million domestic passengers during January-March 2019 period, compared to 13.4 million passengers during the same period of the previous fiscal.
IndiGo said its total debt at the end of the March 2019 quarter stood at Rs2,429.2 crore.
However, on an annual basis, Indigo's profit for 2018-19 was down 93 per cent as domestic carriers lost the oil price advantage during the latter half of the 2018-19 fiscal.
Fuel cost during the quarter rose to Rs2,781.28 crore from Rs2,337.71 crore a year ago.
For the fiscal year 2018-19, IndiGo reported a profit of Rs157.25 crore, down 93 per cent from Rs2242.32 crore in 2017-18. The airline’s revenue stood at Rs29,821.37 crore during FY19, up 24.42 per cent from Rs23,967.74 crore in FY18, as the airline flew more passengers during the year and benefitted from relatively lower oil prices during the early part of FY19.
“Fiscal 2019 was a tough year for the airline industry in India because of high fuel prices, weak rupee and intense competitive environment. However, it is a tale of two halves for IndiGo, with the first half of the year incurring losses and the second half of the year experiencing a sharp recovery," the airline’s chief executive Ronojoy Dutta said in a statement.
“Looking ahead, it is difficult not to be bullish about the future. We see plenty of opportunities for profitable growth in our network and with a robust delivery stream of new aircraft, we are well positioned to capitalise on this growth," he added.
The airline’s fleet size stood at 217 aircraft – including 130 Airbus A320ceos, 71 A320 neos, 1 A321 neo, and 15 ATR – a net increase of 9 aircraft during the quarter.
