IndiGo Q3 profit zooms two-fold to Rs 496 crore, revenue spikes 25%

InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company that operates IndiGo, on Monday reported over twofold jump in net profit at Rs 496 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019, helped by lower fuel prices coupled with higher passenger growth.

The Gurgaon-headquartered low-cost carrier had posted net profit of Rs 185.20 crore in December quarter of 2018 and a net loss of Rs 651.50 crore during September quarter of this fiscal.

Revenue from operations rose 25.5 per cent to Rs 9,931.70 crore compared to Rs 7,916.20 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income increased to Rs 10,330.2 crore in Q3FY20 from Rs 8,229.3 crore in Q3FY19.

IndiGo's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation, and restructuring or rent costs (EBITDAR) soared by 17.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1,960.7 crore from Rs 1,672.9 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The EBITDAR margin fell by 1.4 per cent YoY to 19.7 per cent from 21.1 per cent in the year-ago period.

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The other income jumped 27.3 per cent to Rs 398.5 crore in Q3FY20 against Rs 313 crore in Q3FY19.

The total expenses of the airline also increased by 21.5 per cent to Rs 9,773.6 crore, led by 409 per cent YoY jump in depreciation and amortisation expenses at Rs 1,037.70 crore. Supplementary rentals and aircraft repair and maintenance also rose YoY to Rs 1,633.10 crore.

During quarter under review, revenue from passenger ticket jumped 24.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 8,770 crore.

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As of December 31, 2019, lndiGo had a total cash balance of Rs 20,068.7 crore, which include Rs 9,412 crore of free cash and Rs 10,656 crore of restricted cash. The total debt of the company stood at Rs 21,555.3 crore compared to Rs 2,475.9 crore in the year ago period, registering a YoY growth of 770.6 per cent.

Commenting on Q3 earnings, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said, "We started operations in seven new international routes and 17 new domestic routes and operated a peak of 1,634 daily departures during the quarter. I am very enthusiastic about the way we have been developing our network, connecting cities large and small to provide more choice to our customers. We have added small cities such as Shirdi and Shillong to our network while extending our reach to major cities such as Hanoi and Guangzhou."

Yearly capacity increase in available seat kilometers (ASK), a measure of passenger carrying capacity, is expected to be 20 per cent for the fourth quarter and 23 per cent for FY20, the company said.

For FY21, capacity increase in Available Seat Kilometer (ASKs) is expected to be around 20 per cent, it added.

As of December 31, 2019, the InterGlobe Aviation had fleet of 257 aircraft, offering 1,634 peak daily flights during the quarter and connecting 61 domestic destinations and 23 international destinations. Ahead of Q3 results, InterGlobe Aviation shares closed 0.54 per cent lower at Rs 1,492.85 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

By Chitranjan Kumar