Authors: JordannterGlobe Aviation had reported its earnings after market hours yesterday.
Shares of InterGlobe Aviation slumped as much as 18 per cent today, after the owner of India's top carrier IndiGo reported a 73 per cent slump in fourth-quarter profit.
Profit dropped to Rs 118 crore, from Rs 440 crore a year earlier, dragged down by higher expenses and fuel costs.
InterGlobe Aviation had reported its earnings after market hours yesterday.
Total expenses jumped 30.2 per cent to Rs 5,891 crore, including a 33.5 per cent increase in fuel costs in the January-March quarter.
Other aviation stocks also fell sharply today.
Jet Airways fell 5 per cent while SpiceJet shares were down nearly 7 per cent.IndiGo also had to cancel hundreds of flights in March when several in-flight engine failures prompted aviation regulator to ground eight of the airline's Airbus A320neo aircraft fitted with certain Pratt Whitney engines.
The airline managed to transfer passengers to other flights, however, minimising revenue losses.Revenue per available seat kilometre - a measure of its operating earnings - fell over three per cent to Rs 3.40 in January-March.
Passenger yields, which gauge the average fare paid per mile per customer, dropped over five per cent.However, IndiGo expects a 25 percent rise in available seat kilometres, a measure of the airline's passenger carrying capacity, in the fiscal year that began on April 1.The company announced last week that its president, Aditya Ghosh, would step down after 10 years with the company and it would consider naming Gregory Taylor, an airline sector veteran, as his successor in the coming months.Market regulator Sebi is examining the cause for drop in InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.'s shares before the operator of the nation's largest airline announced the resignation of its president, Bloomberg reported earlier, citing people familiar with knowledge of the matter.
On April 27, shares of IndiGo shares had fallen over 6 per cent.At 9:44 am, shares of IndiGo were down 16 per cent to Rs 1,128 as compared to a 0.3 per cent fall in Sensex.
(With Agency Inputs)