BENGALURU (Reuters) -IndiGo operator Interglobe Aviation reported more than a two-fold growth in third-quarter profit on Friday, helped by air travel demand and higher fares in a seasonally strong period.
India’s largest airline by market share said it expects capacity measured in available seats per kilometre to rise 12% in the current quarter.
The low-cost carrier has India’s largest airline fleet of 358 aircraft and commands a market share of more than 62%.
The airline has been leasing new planes and extending agreements on older ones due to a fifth of its fleet being grounded by Pratt and Whitney engine issues.
The company reported a standalone profit of 29.98 billion rupees ($362 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with 14.18 billion rupees a year earlier.
It benefited from back-to-back festive and wedding seasons, along with the men’s Cricket World Cup hosted in the country, analysts said.
IndiGo’s revenue rose 30% to 194.52 billion rupees, which analysts attributed to higher fares.
Its expenses rose 22% as fuel costs – which account for 40% of the total – rose 18%. Foreign exchange losses, however, narrowed by more than 91%.
IndiGo’s load factor, or the utilised passenger carrying capacity, improved to 85.8% from 85.1%.
Yield – the average revenue earned per passenger kilometre – rose 2% to 5.48 rupees per kilometre.
The company’s shares ended 2% higher on Friday at their best-ever closing price of 3,127.1 rupees.
($1 = 82.8850 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Sohini Goswami)
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