IndiGo Q1 results: Airline posts profit of Rs 3,090 crore in Q1 on higher traffic, airfares

IndiGo's load factor stood at 79.6 percent at the end of the June quarter.

InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of low-cost airline IndiGo, on August 2 posted a profit of Rs 3,090.6 crore for the quarter ended June 2023, as compared to a net loss of Rs 1,064 crore in the same period a year ago.

Revenue from operations for IndiGo, the largest airline in the country, rose 29.8 percent to Rs 16,683.1 crore, from the year-ago period when the airline had reported a topline of Rs 12,855 crore.

The surge in revenue was led by a sharp rise in domestic travel during the quarter, as demand for domestic travel in India has continued to surge for the past two quarters.

Sequentially, IndiGo had reported a profit of Rs 919 crore on sales of Rs 14,160 crore in Q4 FY22-23.

IndiGo managed to surpass market expectations with its Q1FY2024 results, analysts had expected the airline to report a bottomline of Rs 1,769 crore on a topline of Rs 15,895 crore.

"We produced strong operational performance and welcomed the highest number of quarterly passengers which enabled us to generate the highest ever quarterly revenue and net profit for the quarter ended June 2023," CEO Pieter Elbers said.

He added that in the first quarter of 2023-24 IndiGo placed a new order for 500 aircraft that takes our outstanding order book to c.1,000 aircraft and further strengthens our position for future growth

For the quarter, the company said its passenger ticket revenues stood at Rs 1668.31 crore increased by 29.8 percent YoY and ancillary revenues at Rs 47.78 crore nearly tripled when compared to the same period last year.

At the operating level, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rent cost (EBITDAR) profit or consolidated operating profit for the quarter came in at Rs 5210.9 crore as against an operating profit of Rs 716.9 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Available seat kilometres rose 19 percent on a year-on-year basis to 32.7 billion, while revenue passenger kilometres surged 32 percent on-year to 29 billion.

The load factor for the no-frill airline stood at 88.6 percent at the end of the June quarter as against 79.6 percent in the year-ago period.

The operating performance was marred by high fuel costs as revenue per available seat kilometre (ASK) stood at Rs 5.12, whereas cost per ASK was at Rs 4.17.

InterGlobe Aviation's yield per passenger fell to Rs 5.18 in the June quarter from Rs 5.24, the company said.

The company's total debt rose 18 percent on year to Rs 46,291.9 crore in the June quarter, while total cash rose by 43.7 percent to Rs 27,400 crore, including free cash of Rs 15,691.1 crore.

The airliner had 316 aircraft in its fleet at the end of the quarter, up from 304 in the previous quarter. IndiGo operated at a peak of 1,873 daily flights during the quarter including non-scheduled flight.