Spicejet Ltd has posted loss of Rs392.6mn for the quarter ended 31st Dcember, 2011 compared with a profit of Rs944.4mn for the comparable period last fiscal year.
Revenue for the third quarter ended 31st December, 2011 increased by 41% to Rs11.75bn as compared to Rs8.31bn of the corresponding quarter a year ago.
High fuel prices coupled with an unprecedented depreciation in the Indian Rupee during the December quarter, made the operating conditions extremely challenging for all Indian carriers. However, for another quarter SpiceJet was able to successfully grow passenger traffic by 29%, outperforming the domestic industry passenger growth of around 16%.
Aircraft fuel expenses were 90% higher than the same period last year and Fuel Cost as a proportion constituted 50% of the total revenue in the current quarter as compared to 37% in the comparable quarter for the previous year. Increased cost of Crude Oil plus 24% tax on ATF is continuing to impact the Indian civil aviation sector very adversely.
The average passenger yields in the quarter increased 9.5% as compared to the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Market Share in December 2011 increased to 16.8% from 13.6% in September 2011, the largest growth of any domestic carrier.
Operational
29% growth in number of passengers.
32% growth of Available Seat Kilometers.
60% growth in number of departures.
Financial
41% increase in Revenue from Operations.
9.5% increase in passenger yields to Rs. 3,812 from Rs 3,482
Neil Mills, Chief Executive Officer, said “We continued to maintain our growth rate in terms of fleet additions, passenger traffic and destinations. During the quarter ended December 31, 2011, we were able to realize major gains in market share, improve the revenue mix and achieve significant cost savings aided by a relentless drive to boost operational efficiencies. Accordingly, our losses at the PBT level fell by more than Rs 200 crores as compared to the immediately preceding quarter. But for escalating ATF prices and abnormal increase in the US Dollar rates the financial performance could have been much better this quarter.
The industry continues to grow in volumes, though pricing continues to be weak; however, the outlook for the industry is considerably better now, with the recent press reports indicating that a liberalization of FDI into the sector may be on the cards”