IndiGo parent InterGlobe's shares tank 20% post weak Q4 results; market players dump airline stocks in early trade

New Delhi: Shares of IndiGo parent InterGlobe Aviation slumped nearly 20 percent on Thursday after the company reported a 73 percent plunge in profit for the March quarter.

The scrip, after making a weak opening, further tumbled 17.57 per cent to Rs 1,111.30 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Meanwhile, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), shares of the company cracked 19.75 percent to Rs 1,077.55.

InterGlobe, on Wednesday,  reported a 73 percent plunge in profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 117.64 crore for the March quarter, as higher fuel costs and foreign exchange losses hurt its bottom line.

The carrier, which last week announced the sudden departure of its President and Whole-Time Director Aditya Ghosh, had logged a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 440.31 crore in the year-ago period.

However, the company’s total income in the fourth-quarter of fiscal 2017-18 climbed 17 percent to Rs 6,056.84 crore. It was Rs 5,141.99 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

The lower quarterly profit was mainly due to a rise in fuel costs, foreign exchange losses and lower yield, IndiGo’s Chief Financial Officer Rohit Philip said during a conference call to discuss the financial results.

Market players were also seen selling other airline stocks, with SpiceJet tumbling 8.98 percent to Rs 120.05 and Jet Airways (India) falling 6.22 percent to Rs 556 on the BSE.

Ghosh and his team’s achievements over the past decade are many and are commendable: IndiGo has gone from 18 aircraft to over 160; operates more than a 1000 flights a day; has logged an eight-fold increase in topline over a decade; parent InterGlobe Aviation boasts of a market cap of over Rs 45,000 crore.