InterGlobe Aviation, the owner of budget carrier IndiGo, today reported a robust 56.4 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 762.06 crore in the three months ended December 2017 aided by better revenue management and credit received from manufacturers.
It had a net profit of Rs 487.25 crore in the year-ago period.
In the third quarter of current fiscal, revenues from operations rose 24 per cent to Rs 6,177.82 crore. The same stood at Rs 4,986.49 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.
The airline, which has embarked on ambitious expansion plans, said it remains interested in acquiring international operations of Air India and is awaiting the details.
"I am pleased to report profit after tax of of Rs 7.6 billion for the quarter. At the same time, I am happy to announce that we delivered the promise of starting our regional operations with our ATR aircraft," IndiGo President and Whole Time Director Aditya Ghosh said.
During the 2017 December quarter, the load factor increased to 88.5 per cent.
IndiGo's Chief Financial Officer Rohit Philip said the year-on-year profitability was better primarily of certain improvements in our RASK (Revenue per Available Seat Kilometre).
This improvement in yield and load factor was a result of better revenue management as well as effects of demonetisation which had impacted revenues, he added.
"We also received credits from our manufacturers last quarter. We don't expect such year-and-year improvement in our RASK going forward," he said during a post-earnings call with analysts.
In the latest December quarter, passenger ticket revenues climbed nearly 22 per cent to Rs 5,322.46 crore. Ancillary revenues too went up 20 per cent to Rs 700.12 crore during the same period.
Total expenses for the quarter ended December 2017 increased 18 per cent to Rs 5,378.19 crore, including airline fuel costs going up nearly 21 per cent to Rs 2,016 crore.
IndiGo, which has expressed interest in acquiring international operations of Air India, is still awaiting "details" from the government on the process, Ghosh said.
"We remain interested in acquiring international operations of Air India but we will explore our long-haul opportunities with or without Air India... (we) would start seeking route rights and other necessary regulatory approvals required to operate long haul flights," Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, in the latest December quarter, the airline's CASK (Cost per Available Seat Kilometre), excluding fuel, rose to Rs 1.94. This was mainly on account of increase in engine shop visits, higher charges at Mumbai airport and imposition of levy for regional connectivity scheme.
Besides, there was a reduction in aircraft utilisation due to grounding of some A320 neos following engine issues.
The increase in CASK was partially offset by foreign exchange gains during the quarter, Philip said.
The leading no-frills carrier added 12 aircraft to its fleet between October and December 2017 taking its fleet size to 153 planes.
"We are now receiving the required engines from Pratt and Whitney and therefore all our A320 neos are in active operations," Ghosh said.
Besides, he said the airline has inducted four aircraft in the fleet on short-term lease to meet the casual requirements and said these planes would continue to be in operation till April.
"We paid a GST of Rs 784 million under protest last quarter. Similarly we have paid a GST of Rs 689 million under protest this quarter," he said.
As of December 31, 2017, IndiGo had a total cash balance of Rs 138,873.54 million while total debt stood at Rs 24,326.35 million.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
