Surging fuel costs lead to unexpected loss, IndiGo shares tumble

Glonghui, July 24 | Indigo Airlines, India's largest carrier, posted an unexpected loss for the second consecutive quarter, mainly due to rising fuel expenses triggered by geopolitical conflicts, causing its stock price to drop to a new low over more than a month. The airline's parent company, InterGlobe Aviation, saw its shares fall as much as 2.74% intraday on Friday, hitting the lowest level since June 18. On Thursday, the airline reported a net loss of 2.38 billion rupees for the quarter ending June 30, while media survey analysts had unanimously expected a profit of 14.3 billion rupees. In the current quarter, the company's revenue rose 20% year-on-year to 245.84 billion rupees, beating market expectations, but total spending surged 34% to 258.5 billion rupees. Fuel costs accounted for about 40% of the airline's total expenses and soared 86% year-on-year this quarter; additionally, foreign exchange losses amounted to 825 million rupees.