SpiceJet Ltd., the country's third largest airline by passengers carried, reported a 61 percent drop in profit for the fourth-quarter after fuel costs increased.
The company's profit for the three-month ended March 31 declined to Rs 41.64 crore from Rs 107.88 crore a year ago, the Gurgaon-based airline said in a stock exchange filing on Saturday. Revenue grew 11.4 percent to Rs 1,613.8 crore.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and rental costs declined 7.2 percent to Rs 315.1 crore. EBITDAR margin contracted over 364 basis points to 19.39 percent.
EBITDAR is the metric to valuate the operating performance of an airline.
The company spent almost 68 percent more on fuel in the fourth quarter, compared to the same quarter last year. It spent around Rs 552 crore for fuel for the March quarter.
Increase in fuel costs eroded approximately Rs 160 crore of profit, SpiceJet said in a separate media statement. It added that demonetisation had resulted in a significant decline in yield in the third and fourth quarter.
The airline enhanced its regional connectivity in the fourth quarter. Besides adding capacity on existing routes, it was also awarded six proposals and 11 routes under the government's UDAN scheme to boost regional connectivity, the statement added.
Shares of SpiceJet Ltd. had closed trade 3.4 percent down on Friday, compared to the 0.4 percent gain in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.
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