SpiceJet's September Quarter Loss Widens To Rs 463 Crore

Budget airline operator SpiceJet's second quarter loss widened to Rs 463 crore due to grounding of Boeing 737 MAX and change in accounting standard.

The company had posted a loss of Rs 389.4 crore in the same quarter last year.

"This (net loss) includes a loss of Rs 180.3 crore on account of accounting standard IND-AS116, without which the loss is Rs 282.3 crore," SpiceJet said in a statement on Wednesday.

However, the airline recorded 52 per cent rise in second quarter operational revenue to Rs 2,845.3 crore as it added more destinations and expanded its fleet of passenger and freighter aircraft, as against Rs 1,874.8 crore in the same quarter last year.

"For the same comparative period, total expenses were Rs 3,536.1 crore as against Rs 2,291.5 crore; EBITDA before exceptional items were Rs 90.8 crore as against Rs 310.4 crore (loss); EBITDAR before exceptional items were Rs 154.1 crore as against Rs 34.9 crore (loss)," the company said.

"With the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX, the company continues to incur various costs and losses with respect to these aircraft," it added.

The company said that it is in the process of determining the costs and losses incurred by it and has initiated the process of seeking reimbursements and claims from the aircraft manufacturer.

"The continued grounding of the 737MAX has hit our growth plans adversely and resulted in inefficient operations and as a result, increase in costs," SpiceJet's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said in the statement.

"Nevertheless, we have added 37 planes to our fleet in the past six months to ensure smooth operations and continued growth. The likely return to service of the 737 MAX early next year, as indicated by Boeing recently, would mean that SpiceJet has at its disposal more than 25 brand new planes and we look forward to it," he added.