SpiceJet FY20 results: Airline reports net loss of Rs 935 crore due to COVID-19, grounding of Boeing 737 MAX

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet has closed the full financial year 2019-20 with a net loss of Rs 935 crore as compared to a net loss of Rs 316 crore in the previous fiscal, impacted by COVID-19 pandemic and grounding of Boeing 737 MAX. For the January-March quarter of FY20, the carrier reported a net loss of Rs 807.1 crore as against net profit of Rs 56.28 crore in Q4 FY19, on weak demand, suspension of flight operations due to coronavirus outbreak.

SpiceJet, the country's second-largest airline in terms of domestic passengers, said that the net loss in FY20 includes a non-cash loss of Rs 697 crore due to forex loss on the restatement of lease liability due to Ind-AS 116. In Q4 FY20, the forex loss on the restatement of lease liability stood at Rs 473.4 crore.

The Gurgaon-headquartered airline saw its total revenue from operations growing by 35.6 per cent to Rs 12,358.64 crore from Rs 9,113.25 crore in FY19. During the March quarter, revenue from operations grew by 13 per cent to Rs 2,863.8 crore in Q4 FY20 against Rs 2,531.2 crore in Q4 FY19.

"FY20 posed multiple unprecedented challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the world-wide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX which led to the overnight grounding of SpiceJet's MAX fleet," the airline said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

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The airline reported operating revenue of Rs 2,863.9 crore for the March quarter and Rs 12,358.6 crore for the fiscal 2020.

On EBITDA basis, loss was Rs 223.6 crore for the reported quarter and profit of Rs 1,273.9 crore for fiscal 2020. On Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, Amortisation and Rent (EBITDAR) basis, the loss was Rs 90.9 crore for March quarter and profit of Rs 1,636.8 crore for the fiscal 2020.

Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet, said: "Two key factors that adversely impacted our performance and the bottom line was the COVID-19 pandemic that started affecting demand adversely from mid-February and grounding of the 737 MAX, which has been out of service for over a year now."

"Despite the year-long grounding of the MAX aircraft, SpiceJet ran a profitable operation till COVID hit to demand from mid?February. Indian and the global aviation industry are going through the toughest?ever phase in aviation history. We at SpiceJet have constantly adapted to the changing economic environment and I am happy that our cargo operations have performed very well. I am confident that things will only improve in the times to come. We remain cautious but optimistic about the future."

Ahead of Q4 result, SpiceJet shares rose 1.15 per cent to close at Rs 48.50 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange.