In what was probably one of the worst quarters for the aviation industry, IndiGo Airlines on Wednesday reported that it recorded a net loss of Rs 2,844 crore for the first quarter of FY21. This quarter was entirely during the lockdown, and flying wasn’t permitted for a large part of the quarter. IndiGo’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and restructuring or rent costs (EBITDAR) stood at negative Rs 1,421 crore.
In the corresponding quarter last year, IndiGo had posted a net profit of Rs 1,203.1 crore. It saw a 91.9% decrease in revenue from operations for the quarter to Rs 766.7 crore.
IndiGo’s income for the quarter fell by 88.3%, down to Rs 1,143 crore. Passenger ticket revenues fell by 93.1% to Rs 585.4 crore, and ancillary revenues were down 81.3% to Rs 168.8 crore.
CEO Ronojoy Dutta said, “The aviation industry is going through a crisis of survival and therefore, our cash balance remains our number one priority. However, we also recognize that major disruptions offer companies opportunities for improvement in product, customer preference, costs and employee engagement. We have built a strong team which is working on multiple fronts to ensure that we emerge from this crisis stronger than ever.”
IndiGo’s EBITDAR margin is at -185% this quarter, as opposed to 29.5% in the corresponding quarter last year.
IndiGo said it has cash reserves of Rs 18,449.8 crore, of which Rs 7,527.6 crore is free cash.
It said that during the quarter, it operated a maximum of 418 daily flights, including charter flights. It added that it has resumed services to 56 domestic destinations and served 20 international destinations via charter operations.
It said that it expects its available seat kilometres (ASKs) in Q2 of this year to be 40% of what it was in the corresponding quarter last year.
In May, IndiGo had announced a pay cut ranging between 5-25%, in addition to its leave-without-pay programme for May, June and July, for senior employees. On Monday, the CEO said that he will now take a pay cut of 35% and that he is asking all Senior Vice presidents and above to take a 30% pay cut. All Vice Presidents will take a 25% pay cut and Associate Vice Presidents will take a 15% pay cut. All pilots will see their pay cut percentages increased to 28%, effective September 1 onwards.
Also in July, it announced that it is laying off 10% of its workforce in a move is expected to impact over 2,500 employees.