SpiceJet Reports Rs 807 Crore Loss In March Quarter

Edited by Sandeep Singh

29 Jul 2020, 05:15 PM IST

SpiceJet said thepandemic has contributed to a significant decrease in economic activity

SpiceJet on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 807.08 crore for the quarter ended March 31, due to weak demand and suspension of flight operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. The private sector airline had reported a net profit of Rs 56.29 crore for the corresponding period a year ago. In a regulatory filing during market hours, the carrier said its total income came in at Rs 3,057.34 crore in the fourth quarter of financial year 2019-20, up 19.64 per cent compared to the year-ago period.

SpiceJet's total expenses - including aircraft fuel and maintenance costs, employee benefits and finance costs - stood at Rs 3,864.42 crore in the January-March period, up 53.62 per cent compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2019.

SpiceJet said the pandemic has "contributed to a significant decline and volatility, and a significant decrease in economic activity, in global and Indian markets".

The lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, which has been extended by certain states with varying levels of relaxations, has "led to significant disruptions and dislocations for individuals and businesses and has had consequential impact of grounding the passenger airline operations", the airline said.

“Two key factors that adversely impacted our performance and bottom line was the COVID‐19 pandemic that started affecting demand adversely from mid‐February and grounding of the 737 MAX, which has been out of service for over a year now. Despite the year long grounding of the MAX aircraft, SpiceJet ran a profitable operation till COVID-19 hit demand from mid‐February," said Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director, SpiceJet.

"Indian and the global aviation industry are going through the toughest‐ever phase in aviation history... I am confident that things will only improve in the times to come. We remain cautious but optimistic about the future,” he added.

The airline said the management is confident of having considered all anticipated impacts arising from the pandemic on business.

However, the full extent of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the company's operations and financial metrics will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and incapable of estimation at this time, SpiceJet added.

SpiceJet shares ended 1.15 per cent higher at Rs 48.50 apiece on the BSE after the earnings announcement, outperforming the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index which fell 1.10 per cent.