Jet, SpiceJet may pare losses, Kingfisher seen deeper in red

New Delhi /Mumbai: Two of the country’s three listed carriers are likely to reduce losses in the March quarter from a year ago, helped by lower fuel prices and reduced seat capacity in domestic skies, analysts tracking the airlines said.
Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, Jet Airways (India) Ltd and SpiceJet Ltd, that together account for two of three air passengers in the country, are expected to post a combined loss of around Rs600 crore for the quarter gone by, the fourth and final one of fiscal 2009, when they start announcing results on or before 30 June, compared with a loss of at least Rs700 crore in the same quarter of fiscal 2008.
The three listed carriers have not announced dates for announcement of their results but are mandated under India’s securities laws to report them before 30 June.
Most of such losses for the quarter to 31 March are likely to be accounted for by Kingfisher Airlines, which has seen its expenses soar after it started international flights late last year.
Jet, which scaled back overseas operations and leased out planes aggressively to boost revenues at a time of a glut in the business, together with low cost subsidiary JetLite Ltd, is likely to halve losses from January-March period in 2008.
Jet, that lost Rs384.48 crore including Rs163.30 crore on JetLite in the March quarter of fiscal 2008, may post losses between Rs150-250 crore, according to four analyst estimates.
Kingfisher, the largest airline by passengers carried in the latest quarter, that lost nearly Rs200 crore in the year-ago quarter, including Deccan Aviation Ltd that it took over in 2007, may increase its losses to at least Rs350 crore, according to aviation consultancy firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, or Capa.
Low-cost carrier SpiceJet, too, is expected to reduce losses by 60%, analysts said. It may reduce losses to Rs40-50 crore, down from Rs123.60 crore in January-March last year, says Capa.
Jet is likely to offset some of its losses with the help of international revenue and trimming flight frequency on loss-making routes such as Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco, one analyst predicted.
11/05/09 Tarun Shukla and P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Categories: Jet Airways May 2009, Kingfisher May 2009, SpiceJet May 2009