India's largest private sector airline, Jet Airways, has swung to a quarterly net loss from a profit a year earlier, it reported on July 22, as rising fuel costs offset a rise in passenger air traffic.
Jet posted a net loss of 1.23 billion rupees ($27 million) for the first quarter ended June, from a profit of 35 million rupees in the same period a year earlier. Total revenues for the quarter rose 18.5 percent to 35.82 billion rupees. Analysts had forecast Jet to show a higher loss, of 2.7 billion rupees.
Air passenger traffic has been rising this fiscal year, leading to healthy seat occupancies for airlines, but this has been offset by steep fuel costs, which have hurt most Indian airlines' earnings.
Jet said its fuel costs rose 57 percent in the April to June quarter. Jet expects strong growth in international business in coming months, a statement said, but added that the second quarter would be "tough" due to firm global crude oil prices.
In the first quarter, international operations accounted for 57 percent of total revenues and Jet achieved a seat load factor of 78.5 percent, compared with 79.7 percent a year earlier. The airline carried 4.07 million passengers in the quarter, up 14 percent in the same period a year earlier.
Jet operates a fleet of 97 aircraft and flies to 75 destinations in India and abroad. Jet shares rose 2.36 percent or 11.5 rupees to 499.05 ahead of the earnings figures. India's airline sector, which was hit by the global slowdown in 2009, has been recovering in line with a rebounding Indian economy.
India last week lowered its growth forecast for this financial year to 8.6 percent from nine percent, its economy hit by a string of interest rate hikes to tame inflation which is nearing double digits.
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