LONDON – The Indian-based LCC (low-cost carrier), IndiGo, also known as InterGlobe Aviation, has reported its fourth-quarter (Q4) 2021-22 financial results that ended in March 2022.
The Q4 Results…
For their Q4, IndiGo has reported a net loss of INR 16,818 million or INR 6,123 million excluding foreign currency. They also had an aggregated net loss for the quarter of INR 10,695 million.
During this quarter, their EBITDAR was negatively impacted by -73.5% compared to March 2021’s results of INR 6,483 million with a margin of 10.4%, whereas for March 2022, their EBITDAR stands at INR 1,718 million and a margin of 2.1%.
Their loss before tax for this quarter sits at INR 16,775 million, compared to March 2021’s loss of INR 11,575 million. The company’s yield however was an improvement of 19.2% with a RASK improvement of 21.7%.
Unfortunately, their results have been significantly negatively impacted by the COVID-19 Omicron variant during the first half of the quarter.
Commenting on this, IndiGo’s Chief Executive Officer, Ronojoy Dutta, has said, “This quarter has been difficult because of the demand destruction caused by the Omicron virus in the first half. Although traffic rebounded and demand was robust during the latter half of the quarter, we were challenged by high fuel costs and a weakening rupee.”
“We believe IndiGo is best positioned to maximize revenue in a recovering market. As we work to return the airline to profitability, we are focused on maintaining our cost leadership position and continuing to build the most efficient network in the region.”
In terms of passenger numbers, IndiGo saw an increase of 10.3%, however, due to a fuel price increase of 61%, this significantly hampered their operational revenue streams.
At the end of this quarter, IndiGo’s cash balance stood at INR 182,275 million which is broken down as INR 77,632 million in free cash and INR 104,644 million of restricted cash.
The company also finished with a total debt standing, including capitalized operating lease liability of INR 368,778 million.
IndiGo had also operated at a peak of 1,577 daily flights, including non-scheduled flights coupled with an impressive on-time performance of 94.4% over four key metro areas throughout India and a very small cancellation rate of only 0.71%.
In terms of their fleet numbers, they ended the quarter with a total of 275 aircraft in their fleet, broken down as, 41 Airbus A320ceo, 143 Airbus A320neo, 56 Airbus A321neo, and 35 ATR 72-600’s, this is a net reduction of eight aircraft compared to their fleet standings during the previous quarter, mainly Airbus A320ceo’s, which are being replaced by the newer NEO aircraft orders.
On top of the 275 aircraft they currently have in their fleet, IndiGo still has over 500 aircraft on order from both Airbus and ATR.
Overall…
Despite the negative quarterly results that IndiGo has faced, they are confident that the plans that they have in place will help quickly return the carrier to profitability as well as significant growth throughout the region as India’s travel sector becomes once again one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world.
