India`s IndiGo posts record quarterly profit on strong demand, lower fuel prices
IndiGo operator Interglobe Aviation Ltd reported a record quarterly profit on Wednesday on strong demand for air travel and a fall in jet fuel prices.
India's biggest airline by market share posted a profit of 30.87 billion rupees ($373.87 million) for the three months to June 30, compared with a loss of 10.65 billion rupees a year earlier.
Revenue from operations jumped nearly 30% to 166.83 billion rupees.
The low-cost carrier's cost of available seats per kilometre fell 17.9% to 4.17 rupees.
The airline benefited from troubles at smaller rivals Go First and Spicejet, as well as a strong recovery in air travel demand in the world's third-largest aviation market.
The airline, with a fleet of 316 aircraft, placed an order for 500 narrowbody jets from Europe's Airbus in June.
The carrier's market share has risen to 60.7% at the end of the June quarter from 55.7% as of March end.
IndiGo's yields, a metric for profitability, fell 1.2% year-over-year to 5.18 rupees per kilometre.
Fuel costs fell 12.7%, which more than offset the fall in yield.
Indigo's load factor, or the passenger carrying capacity being utilised, improved by nine percentage points to 88.6%.
The company expects capacity to rise by about 25% from a year earlier in the current quarter.
Indigo faced challenges due to higher fuel costs and foreign exchange volatility last year, which dragged it to losses in the two first two quarters of the last fiscal year, but since then has posted profits for three straight quarters.
