Jet Airways Profits Rise 11%

Jet Airways, the biggest carrier in India, reported an 11% increase in profit for their Q4 last week, but the airline’s shares still fell up to 5% on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the announcement. They closed on Friday at 495.20 rupees per share, a 3% decline. This happened because the earnings were boosted by lower tax expenses and a one-time gain.

Net profit during the 3 months ending March rose to 585.8 million rupees, up from the 529.9 million rupees reported for the same quarter last year. Sales for the airline increased 15% to 26.05 billion rupees. Total income for the company was 27.77 billion rupees, a 12.66% increase.

Jet Airways posted a 410.1 million rupee derivative contract gain for the fourth quarter, which is compared to a 1.33 billion rupee charge last year. Profit for the quarter was also boosted by a significant fall in tax expenses from 865.3 million rupees to 200,000 rupees. The carrier didn’t give an immediate reason for the decline in tax expenses.

According to the figures, Jet Airways spent 8.46 billion rupees on jet fuel during the quarter. This is the company’s largest expense, and it’s up from the 5.94 billion rupees the airline reported last year.

Jet Airways attributes the increase in earnings to the revival of domestic travel and more international passenger traffic. Domestic traffic grew 26%, while international traffic grew 31%. The carrier says that the outlook for the upcoming months is healthy with the continued trend of improving traffic.

Last month, Jet Airways head of European operations Raja Segran said that they have improved their premium-class offering to tap into the increase of business travelers. Despite all this good news, the carrier still posted a loss for the 3rd year in a row.