SpiceJet doubled its net profit to Rs. 149 Crore for Q1 FY17 as against Rs. 73 crore for the same quarter last year.
Capacity deployed registered a growth of 37% over the same quarter last year and operating revenue was Rs. 1,522 crores, a growth of 37%.
The profit increase was on account of higher revenue. Despite an equally strong increase in expenses, the higher leverage afforded by the revenue growth resulted in strong growth in net profit (see chart below).
On an EBITDA basis, SpiceJet reported a profit of Rs.215 crore at 14% EBITDA margin.
On EBITDAR (EBITDA-Rent) basis, the Company reported a profit of Rs.474 Crore, a margin of 31%.
“Profits for the quarter were adversely impacted by rupee depreciation, inflation and the presence of more expensive wet lease aircraft,” the company said.
However, profits outperformed capacity and revenue growth rates.
“This is the sixth consecutive profitable quarter for SpiceJet after the challenges faced by the Company in December, 2014 and the change in management and control.”
The airline recorded a passenger load factor of 92.5% in Q1, the highest in the industry. Passenger load factor has been in excess of 90% in every month since April 2015.
Operating performance showed improvement with industry leading On Time Performance and low cancellations rates for SpiceJet flights.
“This quarter’s results further demonstrate the impact of efforts that are being put into strengthening SpiceJet.” said Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, Spicejet Limited. “We remain focussed on growing responsibly in a growing but a challenging market” he added.
