IndiGo, India’s largest airline by fleet, capacity and market share, declared its results last evening. And while there was an expectation of bumper results, IndiGo turned in a slight loss for the entire year, April 2022 – March 2023. The airline, however, delivered a net profit of INR 919 Crores (USD 111 Million) in the Q4 of the financial year (against a loss of INR 1682 Crores/USD 203 Million the year ago).

IndiGo’s Q4 2022-23 results

On a sequential basis, IndiGo’s profit fell 35% from INR 1,423 crores/USD 172 Million in the preceding December quarter. Passenger ticket revenues during the fourth quarter rose 81%, while ancillary revenues increased 37% compared to last year. IndiGo recorded a massive 1,627% surge in its EBITDAR (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rent) at Rs 2,966 crore during the fourth quarter under review.

IndiGo said the profits of the third and the fourth quarters largely compensated for the losses incurred in the first and the second quarters.

IndiGo’s FY2022-23 Results

For the full year, the airline reported a net loss of INR 306 crore (USD 37 Million), mainly on account of an unfavourable Foreign Exchange rate. Excluding the foreign exchange impact, IndiGo posted a profit of INR 2,654 crore (USD 321 Million) for FY23.

On this, Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, had to say,

With a combination of robust market demand and focused execution of our strategy, this was the second consecutive quarter wherein we produced strong operational and financial results, as we reported the highest-ever fourth-quarter net profit.

IndiGo had a total cash balance of INR 23,424 crores (USD 2.8 Billion), comprising INR 12,195 crore of free cash and INR 11,229 crore of restricted cash, as of the March quarter.

As of March 2023, the airline had a fleet of 304 aircraft, including 21 A320 CEOs, 162 A320 NEOs, 79 A321 NEOs, 39 ATRs, 2 A321 freighters and 1 B777 (damp lease); a net increase of 2 passenger aircraft during the quarter. IndiGo operated at the peak of 1,815 daily flights during the quarter, including non-scheduled flights.

IndiGo, which is a Pratt & Whitney customer, said that the number of its grounded planes is in the high 30s.

IndiGo’s aspirations

IndiGo maintained that in the current financial year, they will be able to deliver “north of mid-teens” growth this year, hinting at 17-19% growth. After a year of recovery, InterGlobe aims to double its scale by the end of the decade. IndiGo intends to add another 5,000 employees to its already big employee pool of 32,000.

The airline carried 85.6 million passengers in FY23 and plans to increase passenger traffic on its network to 100 million this financial year. The airline also intends to add between 45-50 aircraft in the current financial year (gross). They did not comment on whether IndiGo would be interested in Go First’s slots and planes. The airline already has 180 A320neo and 308 A321neo aircraft pending in their order book with Airbus.

IndiGo will soon launch new flights between India and Nairobi in Kenya and Jakarta in Indonesia. The airline also intends to expand in Central Asia in the times ahead.

And they intend to launch their loyalty programme as well.

Bottomline

IndiGo continues to be the market leader and delivers another profitable quarter. However, the airline could not deliver an annual profit because of the adverse forex movement in which they pay most of their costs. In the coming year, IndiGo intends to take in about 45-50 aircraft and launch operations abroad to more places, including Africa, deep SE Asia and Central Asia.

What do you think of IndiGo’s annual results for 2022-23?

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