IndiGo quarterly profit soars to Rs 1,422.6 crore boosted by travel demand

At the operating level, EBITDA jumped 74.9 percent to Rs 3,117.7 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal over Rs 1,783 crore in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

EBITDA margin stood at 20.9 percent in the reporting quarter as compared to 19.2 percent in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.

In a reflection of strong travel demand, the budget carrier ferried 2.23 crore passengers in the third quarter, an increase of nearly 26 per cent compared to the same period a year ago when it stood at 1.78 crore.

The load factor, a measure of seat occupancy, rose to 85.1 percent in the December quarter as against 79.7 percent in the year-ago period.

"Third quarter performance was strong both operationally and financially in the backdrop of robust demand for air travel. The wide range of initiatives that were set in motion across the organisation have started to yield results," IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said.

He also said the company reported its highest-ever quarterly revenue of Rs 154.1 billion and robust profit of Rs 14.2 billion for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023.

"With a modern fleet of over 300 aircraft, we continue to serve the market with further capacity growth planned across domestic and international sectors," he said.

The airline had a domestic market share of 55.7 percent in the December quarter, as per data from aviation regulator DGCA. IndiGo had a fleet of 302 planes, including 23 A320 CEOs, 160 A320 NEOs, 78 A321 NEOs, 39 ATRs and 2 A321 freighter at the end of December last year.

At the end of December 2022, IndiGo had a total cash balance of Rs 21,924.7 crore, including Rs 10,612.5 crore of free cash. "The capitalised operating lease liability was Rs 410,420 million. The total debt (including the capitalised operating lease liability) was Rs 444,752 million," the release said.