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    IndiGo Q4 results: Firm posts quarterly loss of Rs 871 crore as costs rise, pandemic hits

    Synopsis

    Revenue for the Jan-Mar quarter grew just 4.5% to Rs 8,635 crore from Rs 8,260 crore a year earlier.

    Indigo
    IndiGo incurred Rs 5,867 crore on supplementary rentals aircraft repair and maintenance for FY20, compared to Rs 3,682 crore a year earlier.
    Mumbai: IndiGo plunged to a loss for the Jan-Mar quarter from a profit a year earlier on a weak operating performance, primarily as air travel fell most of march before being completely suspended in its last week.

    The airline posted a consolidated loss of Rs 871 crore for the quarter compared to a net profit of Rs 596 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Loss for the full year was Rs 234 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 157 crore the previous year.

    Revenue for the Jan-Mar quarter grew just 4.5% to Rs 8,635 crore from Rs 8,260 crore a year earlier.

    In a post-earnings conference call with analysts, CEO Rono Dutta said the airline made an operating profit in the month of January and February but a loss of Rs 380 crore for the month of March. The government suspended all airline operations on March 24 as part of a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.

    Flights resumed from May 25 and airlines have on average been able to fill barely half their flights.

    Dutta and the airline’s chief financial officer Aditya Pande said the airline is taking various cash conservation and cost cutting measures to survive. They said salaries had been cut between 5%-25% for most staff, bonuses were deferred and leave without pay schemes implemented for May-July.

    Apart from that, vendor contracts and being reworked. IndiGo has also got to defer 50% of supplementary rentals for this year as those rentals are linked to how much aircraft fly and many will remain grounded for many months, said Pande.

    IndiGo incurred Rs 5,867 crore on supplementary rentals aircraft repair and maintenance for FY20, compared to Rs 3,682 crore a year earlier.

    Pande said all of the above measures would help IndiGo save cash of Rs 3,000 crore -Rs 4,000 crore over nine months.

    IndiGo had a total cash balance of Rs 20,377 crore as of end March comprising of Rs 8,928 crore of free cash and Rs 11,448 crore of restricted cash. The total debt was Rs 22,719 crore.

    Chief executive Dutta said the airline would try to retire the older Airbus A320 CEO planes faster and replace them with Airbus A320 Neos. The airline has 120 CEOs going out over the next two years. Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, chief operating officer of the airline said it would be taking the delivery of 30 planes. IndiGo had a fleet of 262 planes as of March end.

    Talking of several IndiGo passengers that have been tested positive upon landing since airline operations began on May 25, Dutta said they had all been infected before they boarded.

    “There is no evidence of contamination in the aircraft or of passengers passing it to others within an aircraft,” he said.



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    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today.

    Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price

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