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IndiGo Q1 Net Loss Widens To $426.8 Million

NEW DELHI — Indian budget airline IndiGo said on July 27 that its net loss in the first quarter of FY22 widened to INR 3,174 crore ($426.8 Million) from INR 2,844 crore ($382.4 million) in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. The company’s first-quarter ended on June 30.

The airline industry faced subdued air traffic due to the Covid-19 pandemic, rising oil prices, and depreciation of the Indian rupee. The financial results were severely impacted by the second Covid-19 wave as the number of passengers traveling declined sharply in May and June, said Indigo Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta.

“With the second Covid wave receding, we are seeing a measured recovery in bookings for July and August,” said Dutta in a statement.

“Notwithstanding the industry’s present challenges, we remain firmly optimistic about IndiGo’s future.”

The company’s focus has been to manage cash balances, run a high-quality airline, continue to build capabilities, and be prepared for the post-Covid environment, Dutta said.

Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in the country has had an impact on the financial results, said the company.

Operationally, the low-cost airliner’s revenue rose by 292 percent to INR 3,007 crore ($404.3 million) during the first quarter of FY22 due to an extremely low base.

Moreover, it reported an EBITDAR (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization, and rent) loss of INR 1,360 crore ($182.9 million) for Q1 compared to INR 1,421 crore ($191 million) last year. The airline’s EBITDAR margins stood at 45.2 percent.

The company’s fuel costs jumped 853 percent to INR 1,216 crore ($163.5 million) in Q1 FY22 as compared to INR 127 crore ($17.1 million) in Q1 FY21.

“In the March quarter, we operated at 75 percent of pre-Covid-19 capacity, but during the June quarter, we operated at only 44 percent of pre-Covid-19 capacity. Such lower capacity deployment has negatively impacted our performance metrics,” said Jiten Chopra, Chief Financial Officer of Indigo, in a statement.

“The strength of our balance sheet is our biggest defense in the fight against Covid-19, and we will continue to enhance this strength by focusing on cost reduction, liquidity enhancement, and capacity addition.”

As of June 30, IndiGo had a total cash balance of INR 17,068 crore ($2.29 billion) comprising INR 5,621 crore ($755.8 million) of free cash and INR 11,447 crore ($1.54 billion) of restricted cash.

The airline has a fleet of 277 aircraft, including 85 A320 current engine options (CEOs), 122 A320 new engine options (NEOs), 41 A321 new engine options (NEOs), and 29 aircraft manufacturer (ATRs), marking a net decrease of eight aircraft during the quarter, the company said.

(With inputs from ANI)

Edited by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Praveen Pramod Tewari



The post IndiGo Q1 Net Loss Widens To $426.8 Million appeared first on Zenger News.

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