Spicejet Q3 net profit rises 32% on higher fares

NEW DELHI: Spicejet Ltd on Wednesday reported a 32% rise in fiscal third quarter profit from a year ago on higher demand for air travel, allowing the low-cost airline to extract higher fares.

Net profit rose to ₹239.99 crore in the three months ended December 31, from ₹181.14 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

Total income during the period rose 26% to ₹21,109 crore from ₹16,704 crore in the previous year.

Fares during the quarter were, on an average, 9% higher than a year ago. Average airfares stood at ₹3,905, compared to ₹3,584 the year before. Flight occupancy during the quarter was 95%.

On Wednesday, Spicejet shares jumped 3.98% to close at ₹134.50 on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex shed 0.3% to 34,082.71 points.

“Twelve successive profitable quarters, record aircraft orders, industry’s best load factor, high on-time performance and constantly exploring new growth avenues—spicejet remains firmly on track on its long-term growth strategy. This has been yet another great quarter for us and I am very pleased with the exceptional performance of my team,” Spicejet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh said in statement.

Before December 2018, the company plans to add 12-15 Boeing 737s and six to nine Bombardier Q400s.

Spicejet currently flies 60 planes with 402 average daily flights to 51 destinations.