Apr 17 2024, 08:38
IndiGo's coming USD1 billion profit milestone says about the industry:
India's largest low-cost airline is likely to wrap up FY24 with a record profit of INR7,200 crore INR8,300 crore the best in the country's aviation history.
At a gathering of top airline executives in Istanbul in 2008, Jet Airways' founder Naresh Goyal appeared to be an unhappy man. The Mumbai-based low-cost airline had swung into a net loss of IN R654 crore in FY08, hurt by high fuel prices and intensifying competition in India's civil aviation industry, and the travel agent-turned aviation czar was expecting more turbulence ahead.
"What is low-cost? There is nothing like low-cost in India. There is no alternative airport or secondary airport. In Dubai, they are creating a separate terminal in Jebel Ali for low-cost carriers that is [the basis of] low cost," he had said, adding, "Here [in India), everybody is using the same airport, paying the same navigation and landing fees...."
Nearly a decade-and-a-half since that statement, Goyal, now behind bars on money laundering charges, maybe awestruck when India's biggest low-cost carrier IndiGo announces its Q4FY24 numbers in the coming weeks. As the Gurugram-based airline which carries nearly two-thirds of the country's air travellers is set to create history with its latest report card.
India's largest low-cost airline is expected to record a profit of INR900 crore-INR2,400 crore in the quarter-ended March 31, 2024, as against the INR900 crore it reported in the corresponding year-ago period. This means that IndiGo, which has earned INR6,300 crore in net profits for the first nine months of the fiscal, is likely to wrap up FY24 with a record profit of INR7,200 crore-INR8,700 crore. In other words, the airline may touch the magical USD1 billion-mark in net profit - a first in India's aviation history.
Analysts are still apprehensive about IndiGo's future profitability as they don't believe that the party will continue for long. Dixit has a "sell" call on IndiGo's stock with a target price of INR3,100 compared, representing an 18% downside from Wednesday's closing price of INR3,800. IndiGo became the third largest airline globally by market capitalisation on Wednesday as its shares surged nearly 5%. At USD17.5 billion, it is behind only Delta Air Line's USD30.4 billion market capitalisation and Ryanair's USD26.5 billion. IndiGo shares have jumped 28% this calendar year so far, while the BSE's benchmark 30-share Sensex has gained around 4% during the same period.
"I have a sell call because I think the first half of this fiscal will be good, but in the second half, there will be a lot of capacity coming in since Air India has added 10 planes every month for the last four months, and this number will go up further. With Air India adding 25% capacity, airfares will go down, and IndiGo's market share and profits could come down," Dixit said.
source:et
Apr 18 2024, 08:40