IndiGo parent Interglobe Aviation posts 93% decline in net profit at Rs 156.10 crore in FY19; revenue up 23%

InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo airline, has concluded the financial year 2018-19 with decline in top and bottom line growth, dented by high fuel prices, weak rupee and intense competitive environment.  

"The aviation company has reported a sharp decline of 93 per cent in its standalone net profit at Rs 156.10 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2019 as compared to Rs 2,242.40 crore in the last fiscal," InterGlobe Aviation said in a  filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday.

Standalone revenue from operations increased 23.8 per cent to Rs 28,496.80 crore from Rs 23,020.90 crore in the last year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring or rent costs (EBITDAR) declined to Rs 5,224.50 crore from Rs 6,676.80 crore reported in the previous year. The EBITDAR margin stood at 18.3 per cent as against 29.0 per cent for the last year.

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In the January-March period, the low-cost carrier's standalone net profit jumped five-fold to Rs 589.6 crore as compared to Rs 117.6 crore in the corresponding period of 2017-18. Total income increased by 35.5 per cent to Rs 8,259.8 crore in the quarter ended March 2019 compared to Rs 6,097.7 crore in the year-ago period.

For the quarter, passenger ticket revenue was up 40.2 per cent at Rs 7,037.30 crore and ancillary revenue was Rs 826.40 crore, an increase of 24.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

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Commenting on financial performance, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said, "Fiscal 2019 was a tough year for the airline industry in India because of high fuel prices, weak rupee and intense competitive environment. However, it is a tale of two halves for IndiGo, with the first half of the year incurring losses and the second half of the year experiencing a sharp recovery."

Dutta added that he is bullish about the future and sees plenty of opportunities for profitable growth in our network and with a robust delivery stream of new aircrafts.

For the year ended March 2019, IndiGo has announced a dividend of Rs 5 per share subject to shareholders' approval.

As of March 31, 2019, the total debt of the company was Rs 2,429.2 crore, which was "aircraft related", said the airline. IndiGo has a total cash balance of Rs 15,308.10 crore comprising of Rs 6,079.60 crore of free cash and Rs 9,228.50 crore of restricted cash.

With its fleet of 217 aircraft as of March 31, 2019, the airline offered 1,376 peak daily flights during the quarter and connected 52 domestic destinations and 16 international destinations.

InterGlobe Aviation shares closed trade at Rs 1,663 apiece, up 2.52 per cent, on the BSE on Monday.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar