NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd lost 3.1 billion rupees ($50.2 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, the company said late on Friday, less than the 5.6 billion rupees it lost last year after it lowered fares to fill more seats.
SpiceJet, which has now lost money for five consecutive quarters, has been discounting ticket prices, trimming costs and reducing the size of its fleet in the last few months, as it battles fierce competition in a country where all but one of India's main carriers are losing money.
The airline said the strategy had helped it to increase the amount of revenue it was earning per available seat kilometre by 12 percent during the quarter, and reduce costs by 7 percent, but that it was not enough to bring it back to profitability.
"Management believes that there is still further significant potential on both improving revenues. The improved performance further demonstrates that the turnaround effort, which is still work-in-progress, has gained momentum during the quarter," SpiceJet said in a statement.
Sanjiv Kapoor, SpiceJet's chief operating officer, told Reuters last month that the airline still needed new funding to anchor its turnaround efforts.
(1 US dollar = 61.7050 Indian rupee)
(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Paul Tait)
