IndiGo profit after tax soared 61.9% to 30.8bn Indian rupees ($358.7 million) in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, compared to a year prior. However, full fiscal year profits dipped 11.2% to 72.6bn rupees ($848.2 million).
During the company's earnings call, IndiGo CFO Gaurav Negi said the company will “hopefully” have a stronger June following the Pakistan-India conflict where fighting between the countries saw demand for some routes take a hit.
“Following the geopolitical disruptions, we have seen some impact on the overall revenue environment due to increase in cancellations and impact on booking trends," added Negi. “We are closely monitoring the evolving trends to assess the impact.”
During the call, management said it believes it has “seen the worst” of cancellations and is optimistic that June will be a strong demand season given the holiday period. Management noted that the geopolitical events lasted for “only a few days” and hoped that the demand downturn would reverse quickly in turn.
Management said the company's “strongly diversified network” has shielded it from the impact of the conflict. “To put things in perspective, IndiGo operates 131 destinations,” said IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers. "Due to the closure of the Pakistani airspace, we have suspended two: Almaty and Tashkent. So out of the 131, two have been suspended. If we look to the other flights, it basically impacts around 19 routes and a total of around 34 flights.
“We have 2,000 daily flights and there we have a total of 34 being affected within the range of 20 to 30 minutes of additional flying time. There is, of course, an impact financially when it comes to bringing in additional fuel. But looking at the overall grand scheme of things and the size of our operations, the impact for us is relatively limited.”
The company reported total revenues of 231bn rupees ($2.7bn) for the fourth quarter, up 24.8%, while full year income climbed 18.1% to 841bn rupees ($9.8bn). Passenger revenue was up 24.3% in the quarter to 221.5bn rupees ($2.6bn) and up 17.3% in the full year to 808bn rupees ($9.4bn).
Total costs were up 19.1% in the quarter to 199.3bn rupees ($2.3bn), while annual costs were up 21.1% to 765.1bn rupees ($8.9bn).
Fourth quarter capacity was up 21% and up 13.1% for the full year. Load factor was flat for the year at 86%, while up 1.1 percentage point to 87.4% for the quarter.
The airline's passenger numbers increased 19.6% to 31.9 million for the quarter and up 11.% for the year to 118.6 million.
Following the strong result, the company declared a dividend of 10 rupees ($0.12) per share. In addition, the airline secured investment grade credit rating from Moody's. The airline was assigned a long-term investment grade rating of Baa3 with a stable outlook.
“As we continue our growth journey with focus to become a global aviation player, we also remain committed to deliver consistent performance for all stakeholders,” commented Elbers.
IndiGo, which operates the A320ceo/neo and A321neo aircraft in its fleet, along with ATR 72-600s. The airline said it reached a peak of aircraft on ground (AOG) in the 70s as a result ongoing GTF engine issues. This number has reduced to 50s in the final quarter. Additionally, management added that the number of AOGs is now currently in the 40s.
During the year, the company inducted 67 aircraft, which included 33 aircraft inducted through its GIFT City entity.
“With the reduction in grounded aircraft and steady flow of incoming aircraft, we have also started to redeliver the damp-leased aircraft,” said Negi. “We redelivered eight aircraft in the March quarter and another five in April. Going forward, we will continue to assess the demand and supply situation to adjust our damp leased capabilities.”
The company purchased two ATR aircraft during the March quarter, bringing its total to eight owned ATRs. As of the end of March, the airline had a fleet of 434 aircraft.
For the year ahead, the company expects capacity to grow early double digits, with the first quarter of the 2026 financial year expected to have a mid-teen increase in capacity. Negi added that April “performed well from a revenue standpoint” despite the conflict.
As of the end of March, the company had a total cash balance of 481.7bn rupees ($5.6bn). Total debt was 668.1bn rupees ($7.8bn).