Jet Airways reduces debt

To focus on improving productivity, fleet utilisation

Jet Airways managed to reduce debt by Rs 500 crore in the October-December 2015 quarter, the airline's management told analysts on Monday.

The carrier posted a record consolidated net profit of Rs 467 crore for the third quarter of FY15, triggering the stock to gain nearly four per cent on Monday to close at Rs 593.50 on the BSE.

The airline had total debt of Rs 12,077 crore as of September, it brought it down to Rs 11,547 crore by December 2015. The airline repaid debt of around Rs 860 crore in the third quarter, but also availed of some fresh borrowings.

Eighty-three per cent of the debt is dollar-denominated and the net debt amount was also impacted by the six per cent depreciation of the rupee.

“We will use cash flows for debt reduction. That is our focus,” Chief Financial Officer Amit Agarwal told analysts in a conference call.

Jet said it would focus on improving productivity and reducing costs. It was able to save Rs 60 crore on distribution expenses by increasing its own web sales and renegotiation of agents' productivity bonuses and credit card commission.

“We believe there is more room for productivity improvement and we are working to improve our network and fleet utiliation,” said Cramer Ball, chief executive.