SpiceJet swings to ₹205 cr profit in Q1

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : Budget carrier SpiceJet on Monday reported a net profit of ₹205 crore in the June quarter, buoyed by continued strong demand for air travel. The Gurugram-based airline had reported a net loss of ₹789 crore a year earlier. Total income fell 8.4% to ₹2,267 crore in the quarter while total expenses decreased by 36% to ₹2,069 crore.

The lower expenses were also on account of fewer aircraft in operations. More than 20 SpiceJet planes were grounded in the quarter out of total fleet of 55 planes. “I am happy that despite facing multiple challenges, we have posted a profit in Q1 FY2024.

I firmly believe in the potential of our airline, and I am pleased to have contributed to its growth by infusing ₹500 crore into the company," said Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director. Last month, SpiceJet said it will receive a fresh capital infusion of ₹500 crore from promoter Singh. Singh is expected to infuse the funds by subscribing to fresh equity shares and/or convertible instruments.

For the fiscal year ended 31 March, SpiceJet narrowed its losses to ₹1,503 crore from ₹1,725 crore in the year before. Total expenses rose by 23% to ₹11,410 crore while total income rose by 30% to ₹9,897 crore last fiscal. The airline said it is implementing a range of measures to return its grounded aircraft to service, and is working towards improving selling and distribution, revenue management, fleet rationalization, optimizing aircraft utilization, redeploying capacity in key focus markets, revising management and employee compensation, renegotiating contracts and other cost control steps to establish consistent and profitable operations and cash flows in the future.