Spicejet skids after Q1 net loss expands to Rs 731 crore
The last five quarters have been the most difficult phase ever for SpiceJet as aviation remained the worst‐hit sector during the second wave as well.
Spicejet dropped 3.96% to Rs 69.05 after the company’s consolidated net losses widened to Rs 731.12 crore in Q1 June 2021 (Q1 FY22), higher than net loss of Rs 600.52 crore in Q1 June 2020 (Q1 FY21).
Consolidated net sales surged 121.20% to Rs 1,083.24 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 489.60 crore in Q1 FY21. Pre-tax loss was at Rs 731.12 crore in Q1 FY22 as against a pre-tax loss of Rs 600.52 crore in Q1 FY21. The Q1 earnings were declared after market hours on Friday, 13 August 2021.
On a standalone basis, SpiceJet reported a net loss of Rs 729 crore in the first quarter of FY2022 as against a net loss of Rs 593 crore in the same quarter of the previous year as flight operations were severely impacted due to Covid-19 second wave. Total revenue was Rs 1,266 crore for the reported quarter as against Rs 705 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. For the same comparative period, operating expenses were Rs 1,995 crore as against Rs 1,298 crore. On an EBITDA basis, loss was Rs 244 crore for the reported quarter as against loss of Rs 5 crore for the quarter ended June FY2021.
The company’s business operations were significantly hit due to the continued impact of Covid‐19 which has had seriously impacted travel demand during the quarter ended June 2021. However, SpiceXpress’s revenue soared 285% to Rs 473 crore for the reported quarter compared with Rs 166 crore in the same quarter last year.
Spicejet registered the industry’s highest domestic load factor of 69.5%. The capacity (in terms of seat kilometres) increased by 229% as compared to the same quarter last year. The company reported non-cash (Ind AS 116) impact of Rs 123.09 crore. The EBIDTAR loss stood at Rs 104 crore.
The aviation company operated 309 charters to various countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Croatia, Sri Lanka transporting over 52,000 passengers.
Spicejet continued to incur various costs owing to the grounding and the inability of Boeing 737 Max aircraft to undertake revenue operations over the last two years now. SpiceJet continues to engage with Boeing to recover damages on account of expenses incurred by the SpiceJet due to the grounding of the 737 MAX and also engage with aircraft lessors of the grounded MAX aircraft to restructure the present leases. In terms of operational parameters, SpiceJet had the best passenger load factor amongst all airlines in the country during the quarter.
SpiceJet launched 74 new flights during the quarter. Since 25 May 2020, the airline has operated 1,928 charters helping close to 3.37 lakh stranded passengers travel to their destinations. This also included over 25 wide‐body charters to Europe & Canada. SpiceJet said it has successfully vaccinated all its operating cabin crew with the first dose of the COVID‐19 vaccine ensuring the safety of its employees and providing a safe travel experience to its customers.
Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director (MD), SpiceJet, said: The last five quarters have been the most difficult phase ever for SpiceJet as aviation remained the worst‐hit sector during the second wave as well. Q1 was severely impacted by the second wave as passenger traffic almost disappeared. While no one can predict the future, with vaccination numbers picking up and demand for air travel increasing steadily, we hope the trend reverses soon.
I am confident that SpiceJet will recover lost ground quickly as we are continuously ramping up our operations adding new stations and flights and are much better placed than this time last year. Our logistics arm continued with its strong growth story reporting yet another profitable quarter. We are making efforts to further strengthen the logistics business and are hopeful of driving strong and profitable growth in the times to come. We are in the process of hiving off our logistics platform, SpiceXpress, which will unlock significant value for SpiceJet and its shareholders. This will also allow SpiceXpress to raise capital to fuel its rapid growth.
SpiceJet is India’s low-cost airline that operates a fleet of Boeing 737s, Bombardier Q‐400s & freighters and is the country’s largest regional player operating 63 daily flights under UDAN or the Regional Connectivity Scheme.
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