SpiceJet net loss at ₹423 crore for FY24, vs net loss of ₹1,513 crore in FY23

Budget carrier SpiceJet has reported its earnings for the December and March quarter after a long wait of more than six months. The airline's consolidated net loss shrank to ₹423.7 crore for the full financial year ended March 2024 from a consolidated net loss of ₹1,513 crore a year ago.

While the total revenue for the company fell almost 14% during 2023-24 (Apr-Mar) to ₹8,524 crore from ₹9,897 crore a year ago, the net loss was curtailed by an even steeper decline of around 28% in expenditure to ₹8,947.7 crore from ₹11,410 crore in 2022-23 (Apr-Mar).

Early this year, the airline had also laid off about 1,500 employees, or about 15% of its staff, following a two-thirds reduction in its fleet size, for want of funds. The airline expects to save about ₹100 crore per year from these measures.

For the December quarter, the airline reported a net loss of ₹299 crore while it had reported a net profit of ₹110 crore in the same period a year ago on the consolidated level. The company has also reported a net profit of ₹126.9 crore for the March quarter while it had incurred a loss of ₹6.2 crore in the same period a year ago.

Total liabilities for the company at the end of the March quarter stood at ₹11,690.7 crore as compared to ₹12,420.2 crore as of December 2023. In December 2023, the SpiceJet board approved raising ₹2,250 crore from 64 entities, including financial institutions, foreign institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals, and private investors through the issuance of equity shares and warrants.

In February 2024, the airline said it secured additional funding of ₹316 crore, bringing the total raised through its preferential issue to ₹1,060 crore. “We are confident that SpiceJet is well-positioned to soar even higher in the coming quarters. As we move forward, we are exploring opportunities to raise fresh funds to further bolster our growth plans and take advantage of the burgeoning demand in the Indian aviation market," Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director, SpiceJet, said.

SpiceJet has announced its earnings after a gap of more than six months. However, this is not the first time that SpiceJet has not filed its financial statements with the stock exchanges within the period specified by the regulator. It has deferred reporting its earnings at least thrice in the recent past.

The company delayed posting its earnings for Q4 of FY22 after an attack on its IT systems, which affected the audit process, forcing the release of the quarterly earnings to be postponed. The company then announced the results for the January-March quarter of FY22 and the April-June quarter of FY23 together in September 2022.

The following year, the airline deferred its earnings announcement for January-March of FY23 due to “ongoing medical incapacitation of a key member of its audit committee.” It then also deferred the earnings announcement for April-June of FY24 and finally filed the earnings for both these quarters in August 2023.

SpiceJet has been embroiled in legal battles over unpaid dues to aircraft lessors, vendors and suppliers, and faces contempt notices from the Delhi High Court and the National Company Law Tribunal. The airline’s market share has shrunk rapidly over the past five years—to 4% of the domestic aviation market in May 2024 from 5.4% in May 2023 and 14.8% in May 2019.

Shares of the airline operator closed 7.7% higher at ₹55.89 on Monday. The results were declared after market close.