New Delhi: Interglobe Aviation Ltd, the operator of IndiGo airline on May 18 announced a net profit of Rs 919 crore for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023. Overshadowing high fuel prices and showcasing a high demand for air travel, this comes as a second consecutive profitable quarter for India’s largest airline.
IndiGo had posted a loss of Rs 1,680 crore a year ago. However this time around, neglecting the Street Expectation for its quarterly results, which anticipated a likely profit of Rs 1,418 crore, the airline announced a net profit of Rs 919 crore in Q4.
Quarterly Results
Profits for the fourth quarter came after it reported an 11-fold jump in the profits of the October-December quarter. Indigo last posted the result of two profitable quarters in June 2019.
Meanwhile, Indigo’s revenue from operations took a hike by 76.5 per cent to Rs 14,161 crore in comparison to Rs 8,020 crore during the same period last year.
Airlines’ EBITDAR (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rent) rose to Rs 2,966.5 crore against Rs 171.8 crore, whereas, its margin increased manifold to 20.9 per cent.
Revenue from passenger tickets for the March quarter took a jump by 81 per cent to Rs 12,435 crore, on the other hand, ancillary revenues were Rs 1,445 crore increasing by 37 per cent as compared to the fourth quarter last year.
Words of CEO
“The company-wide initiatives undertaken based on the three strategic pillars of reassure, create and develop enabled us to end the year on a strong note with record revenues. I would like to thank the 86 million customers for choosing to fly with us in the financial year ended March 2023 and the 6E employees for their immense hard work and dedication”, said CEO Pieter Elbers.
Indigo is struggling with high fuel costs and foreign exchange volatility which have caused it losses in two of the last four quarters. However, it still manages to make profits post-pandemic in domestic air travel in the world’s third-largest aviation market.
It is anticipated that the budget-friendly airline might benefit from the crisis that its rival Go First is in, which had filed for bankruptcy previously, and also faced competition from newcomer Akasa Air and Tata Group, which took over Air India.
On Thursday, shares of Indigo closed 1.57 per cent lower at Rs 2,264 per share on BSE.
