IndiGo reports ₹620-cr net loss in Q3

IndiGo has reported a net loss of ₹620.1 crore for the quarter ended December 2020 as against a profit after tax of ₹496 crore during the quarter ended December 2019.

This is the third straight quarter that the Delhi-based low-cost airline has reported a loss. It reported its highest-ever net loss of ₹2,844.3 crore for the quarter ended June 2020.

The airline had reported a net profit of ₹1,203.1 crore during the same quarter last year. The airline had posted a loss of ₹1,195 crore for the second quarter of the current fiscal in October last year.

In a filing with the BSE on Thursday, IndiGo, which has the largest domestic market share, said that its losses before tax stood at ₹623.1 crore during the latest quarter as against a profit of ₹556.5 crore reported during the December 2019 quarter.

Total income for the quarter ended December 2020 was ₹5,142.8 crore, a decrease of 50.2 per cent over the same period last year.

For the quarter, the airline recorded passenger ticket revenues at ₹4,069.3 crore, a decrease of 53.6 per cent and ancillary revenues at ₹807.8 crore, a reduction of 22.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Addressing analysts after the results were announced, Ronojoy Dutta, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo, said the performance of IndiGo’s ancillary business can be primarily attributed to cargo operations, which continue to perform well with the airline operating around 1,500 cargo charter flights during the quarter with a steady increase in total cargo tonnes carried.

Revenues down

The airline recorded revenues from operations of ₹4,910 crore during the current quarter, a decline of 50.6 per cent from the ₹9,931.7 crore revenue recorded during the same period previously. The company reported a strong balance sheet with total cash of ₹18,365.3 crore including ₹7,444.5 crore of free cash and ₹10,920.7 crore of restricted cash.

Dutta cautioned that despite the daily cash burn coming down in the latest quarter as compared to the September quarter, given the recent run up in oil prices and the fact that the industry is going into a seasonally weak quarter, “we cannot state with conviction that the improving trend in cash burn will continue into the current quarter.”

He added that the airline was looking forward to a gradual opening up of international scheduled flights during the next few months “because increased aircraft utilisation are very critical for our return to profitability.”