Low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Saturday reported a net loss of Rs 321.51 crore for the quarter ended March 2014 due to depreciation in the local currency, general economic slowdown and softening demand.
This loss was higher compared to Rs 185.71 crore in the year-ago period, SpiceJet said in a filing to the BSE.
Total income from operations during the January-March quarter increased 8.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,589.61 crore from Rs 1,466.74 crore.
For the financial year 2013-14, SpiceJet’s loss was at Rs 1,003.24 crore, as against Rs 191.07 crore last year and total income from operations rose 11.51 per cent to Rs 6,356.11 crore from Rs 5,699.78 crore.
“The year ended March 31, 2014 was perhaps the most challenging period in the Indian aviation history. The sharp depreciation of rupee during the quarter ended September was unprecedented. Given the fact that over 75 per cent of Indian airline’s cost is influenced by the US Dollar, the effects of the exchange rates on a broad spectrum of cost heads were crippling,” the filing said.
Coupled with a slowing economy and softening demand in a market where capacity continued to be added by the industry, SpiceJet is constrained to report after tax loss of Rs 1,003 crore, it added.
SpiceJet expects the macroeconomic environment to significantly improve and demand to grow in FY 2014-15, it noted.
“SpiceJet is well into the process of executing on a re-structuring and transformation plan to position it well as market conditions improve, and to take on the challenge of new entrants that are expected to enter the market,” the carrier said.