SpiceJet Reports Q3 Profit At Rs 73.2 Crore

On Friday, budget airline SpiceJet posted a net profit of Rs 73.2 crore for the December-ended quarter.

"Standalone profit from Air Transport Services (airline) was Rs 115 crore. Further, this profit is after a non-cash forex charge on account of Ind AS 116 of Rs 75.9 crore without which the profit would have been Rs 190.9 crore," the carrier said in a release.

Ind AS 116 or Indian Accounting Standard 116 pertains to leases.

In the same period of the previous year, the airline recorded a profit of Rs 55.1 crore.

Operational revenue for the October-December period rose by 47 percent to Rs 3,647.1 crore from Rs 2,486.8 crore, a year ago.

SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh said the airline has done remarkably well in the latest quarter, despite a substantial profit hit from the grounding of MAX aircraft.

Last year, Boeing 737 MAX planes were grounded worldwide in the wake of two fatal crashes involving the aircraft.

"We were expecting the MAX to return to service by January 2020 but that hasn't happened."

"The continued grounding and the delay in its return to service has undoubtedly hit our growth plans adversely and resulted in inefficient operations and increased costs," Singh said.

SpiceJet is the only Indian carrier with MAX aircraft in its fleet and it had to ground 13 such planes in March last year.

The management expects the airline to grow profitably while maintaining tight control over costs.

With inputs from PTI