Lower fuel prices help SpiceJet log Rs26 cr profit in first quarter

New Delhi: Discount airliner SpiceJet Ltd, which is backed by billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, on Monday said it has made a profit of Rs26.34 crore for the three months ended 30 June, compared with a loss of Rs129.22 crore in the same period last year, mainly because of lower fuel costs.
It spent Rs182.81 crore in the quarter on aircraft fuel, its biggest expense, or nearly half of Rs310.2 crore a year ago.
“In the current environment, it’s an amazing result,” chief executive Sanjay Aggarwal told Mint.
“It’s a sign that the LCC (low-cost carrier) model has proved itself,” said Kapil Kaul, India chief executive for aviation consultancy firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
SpiceJet’s revenue for the first quarter rose to Rs634.41 crore from Rs483.40 crore in the year-ago period. SpiceJet, which won a total of $100 million in funding from Ross and Goldman Sachs last year, grew its operations in the fiscal ended 31 March to 19 Boeing aircraft and 125 daily flights from 15 Boeing aircraft and 94 daily flights in the preceding fiscal.
The airline has also formed an ethics committee to bring in greater transparency in its future contracts, said Ajay Singh, a director on the carrier’s board. The decision came after shareholders raised questions in the manner in which the firm was planning to award an aircraft maintenance contract.
27/07/09 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Categories: SpiceJet Jul 2009