Jet Airways India May Post Losses for Two Years, Citigroup Says

Jet Airways (India) Ltd., the nation's biggest domestic carrier, may post a loss in the next two years because of a surge in fuel prices, Citigroup Inc. said, reversing an earlier estimate.
The airline and its budget-carrier unit may post a combined loss of 20 billion rupees ($468 million) in the next two fiscal years, Citigroup's Mumbai-based analyst Jamshed Dadabhoy said in a note to clients today. The analyst's previous forecast was for a loss in the current year and a profit next year.
Jet Airways, controlled by billionaire Naresh Goyal, had its first loss in five years for the year ended March 31 after its spending on jet fuel almost doubled. Airlines in India may double their combined losses to $1.5 billion this year on fuel and discounted tickets, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an industry consultant, predicted this month.
Jet fuel, the biggest expense for most Asian airlines, has almost doubled in Singapore trading this year. That's prompted Indian oil refiners to increase prices for local airlines, which aren't allowed to hedge in the local market.
The Mumbai-based carrier had a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of 2.21 billion rupees, its biggest quarterly loss in at least three years, compared with a net income of 880.1 million rupees a year earlier.
26/06/08 Vipin V. Nair/Bloomberg

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Jet Airways Jun 2008