IndiGo Q3 earnings preview: Flight cancellations cloud investor outlook
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi/Mumbai: As IndiGo, the country’s largest airline by market share, announces its December-quarter earnings on Thursday, the focus will be on the operational disruptions last month that unsettled passengers, regulators, and investors alike. The airline, with 63% market share, cancelled about 4,500 flights in the first week of December as it scrambled to adjust schedules to comply with revised flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms for pilots.
The disruption, which stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers, raised questions about IndiGo's market dominance. Investor unease deepened after civil aviation minister K. Rammohan Naidu vowed strict action as these flight cancellations disrupted travel plans and practically grounded the country’s aviation sector.
The likelihood of strict action, flight curtailments by the aviation regulator, and a guidance revision have kept investors on edge. Ratings agencies and sell-side analysts hinted at management changes further impacting investor sentiments. Share price of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company that runs IndiGo, reflected this anxiety, falling 16% in the first two weeks of December, compared with a 2.6% drop in the benchmark index, the Sensex.
On Wednesday, the stock was trading at ₹4,830, up 0.8%, in a largely weak market. Concerns around the company's operations have eased. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) fined IndiGo and issued warnings to its top executives, stopping short of harsher penalties or directing any management-level changes.
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