IndiGo posts 24% jump in net profit in Q2 on higher passenger revenues

Budget carrier IndiGo's parent InterGlobe Aviation on Tuesday posted a nearly 24% rise in its net profit at Rs 139.85 crore in the three months ended September 2016, mainly aided by higher passenger revenues.

It had a net profit of Rs 113.13 crore in the same period a year ago.

IndiGo, which has the largest market share in the domestic aviation market, saw its total revenue from operations surge to Rs 4,166.93 crore in the latest September quarter.

The same stood at Rs 3,539.93 crore in the year-ago period, according to a BSE filing.

The no-frills carrier reported higher profit despite total expenses going up to Rs 4,090.18 crore in the 2016 September quarter.

For the quarter, passenger revenues were Rs 3,597.88 crore, an increase of 18 %, while ancillary revenues stood at Rs 558.41 crore, a rise of 17.7 % compared with the same period last year, the filing said.

"We are pleased to report another profitable quarter and traffic growth of 32.7%. At the same time, our unit cost excluding fuel has reduced by 9.7 per cent despite operating in an inflationary environment," said IndiGo Whole-Time Director and President Aditya Ghosh.

The stock closed flat at Rs 924.50 on BSE.

At the end of September, IndiGo's total cash balance stood at Rs 6,857.2 crore comprising Rs 2,386.5 crore and Rs 4,470.7 crore of restricted cash.

During the same period, the total debt was at Rs 2,742.8 crore. "The entire debt for IndiGo is aircraft related. IndiGo does not have any working capital debt," the filing said.

IndiGo said it expects to have a fleet of 136 aircraft at the end of the current financial year. It currently has 118 aircraft.