SpiceJet reports net profit of Rs 73 crore in Q3 FY20

Gurugram (Haryana) [India], Feb 14 : Low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Friday reported a profit of Rs 73 crore for the quarter ending December 31, 2019 as against Rs 55 crore in the same quarter last year.
This profit is after a non-cash forex charge on account of IND-AS116 of Rs 75.9 crore without which the profit would have been Rs 149.1 crore, the airline said in a statement.
The airline also recorded a 47 per cent rise in the third quarter operational revenue to Rs 3,647 crore as against Rs 2,487 crore for the same quarter last year as the airline added more destinations and expanded its fleet of passenger and freighter aircraft.
For the same comparative period, expenses were Rs 3,844 crore as against Rs 2,476 crore. On an EBITDA basis, SpiceJet reported a profit of Rs 659 crore. On an EBITDAR basis, the company reported a profit of Rs 762 crore.
Despite the challenges that the airline is facing in terms of additional costs incurred, compounded by the continued grounding of its 737 MAX aircraft, the airline's capacity grew by 59 per cent in 2019.
With average domestic load factor for the quarter at 91.9 per cent, SpiceJet has recorded over 90 per cent load factor for 56 successive months.
"Despite facing an unprecedented crisis following the grounding of the MAX in March last year,
SpiceJet grew by close to 60 per cent in 2019 demonstrating its ability to stand up to a crisis," said Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh.
SpiceJet operates 600 average daily flights to 63 destinations, including 54 domestic and 9 international ones.
The airline has a fleet of 82 Boeing 737, 32 Bombardier Q-400s and five B737 freighters and is the country's largest regional player operating 49 daily flights under UDAN or the Regional Connectivity Scheme.