Rs 10,000 crore loss since 2020, but IndiGo still flying high & how!

The airline is a vital, but brutal industry. Many have entered this space, but very few have survived. In the past, we have seen the likes of Kingfisher, Jet, and Air Deccan go belly up.

Even among those that have survived, one burns more public money than fuel, while another has filed for an initial public offering so that it can pay up its day-to-day fuel cost. Yet another, though alive, is losing market share rapidly in many quarters. The rest of them are raising huge sums of money from their promoters and lenders to fly through the crisis.

The bottom line is, the industry which was already gasping for breath, has been forced on its knees by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

But, there is one, which despite having been bruised like never before, is trying its best to stand up. And, this has impressed some on Dalal Street.

Interglobe Aviation, which runs low-cost carrier IndiGo, for the June quarter posted losses at the rate of Rs 35 crore daily, which was larger than any expectation. This loss took its combined loss for the last six quarters to close to Rs 10,000 crore.

The company said its business suffered heavily due to the second wave of the pandemic. The net debt of the company also ballooned to Rs 31,690 crore, 22.5 percent more than year-ago levels. This includes its liability towards aircraft it has taken on lease.

There is no clarity on when the company will come back in black. Most analysts believe it would continue to post losses for the entire fiscal 2022, given passengers are still reluctant to travel and the third wave of a pandemic is imminent.

However, amid all this, what stands IndiGo apart from its peers is its strong war chest. The company is sitting on Rs 17,067.9 crore of total cash, including free cash of Rs 5,620.7 crore. It should be noted that the net cash level is down over 7 percent from a year ago, but that should not be much of a worry, said analysts.