New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS): Budget airline SpiceJet on Friday reported a net loss of Rs 729 crore in the first quarter of FY2022.
The Q1FY22 net loss is higher than Rs 593 crore in the same quarter of the previous year as flight operations were severely impacted due to Covid-19's second wave.
However, total revenue rose to Rs 1,266 crore for the quarter as against Rs 705 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.
Operating expenses were Rs 1,995 crore as against Rs 1,298 crore for the same period.
The company said it continues to incur various costs owing to the grounding and the inability of Boeing 737 Max aircraft to undertake revenue operations over the last two years now.
The company, in a statement, said that it continues to engage with Boeing to recover damages on account of expenses incurred by SpiceJet due to the grounding of the 737 Max and also engage with aircraft lessors of the grounded aircraft to restructure the present leases.
"The last five quarters have been the most difficult phase ever for SpiceJet as aviation remained the worst-hit sector during the second wave as well. Q1 was severely impacted by the second wave as passenger traffic almost disappeared. While no one can predict the future, with vaccination numbers picking up and demand for air travel increasing steadily, we hope the trend reverses soon," Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said.
"I am confident that SpiceJet will recover lost ground quickly as we are continuously ramping up our operations, adding new stations and flights and are much better placed than this time last year. Our logistics arm continued with its strong growth story reporting yet another profitable quarter. We are making efforts to further strengthen the logistics business and are hopeful of driving a strong and profitable growth in the times to come."
Singh also said that the company is in the process of hiving off the logistics platform, SpiceXpress, which is expected to unlock significant value for SpiceJet and its shareholders.
"This will also allow SpiceXpress to raise capital to fuel its rapid growth," he said.
SpiceXpress saw its revenue increase by a whopping 285 per cent to Rs 473 crore for the reported quarter as compared to Rs 166 crore in the same quarter last year.