MUMBAI: SpiceJet, which is facing headwinds, on Wednesday reported widening of net loss to Rs 789 crore in the June quarter as high fuel prices and rupee depreciation adversely impacted the budget carrier.
Amid the financial turmoil, the airline plans to raise USD 200 million, which is around Rs 1,600 crore at current exchange rates, and expects to complete hiving-off of its profitable cargo business into a separate company in the current quarter.
Meanwhile, the airline's Chief Financial Officer Sanjeev Taneja has resigned with effect from Wednesday.
The low-cost carrier had a net loss of Rs 729 crore in the quarter ended June 2021.
In the latest June quarter, the net loss is Rs 420 crore, excluding forex adjustment.
"Total revenue for the reported quarter was Rs 2,478 crore as against Rs 1,266 crore, a year-on-year growth of 126 per cent, in the same quarter of the previous year," the airline said in a release.
The airline, which had delayed its March quarter and FY2022 earnings, saw its net loss widen to Rs 458 crore in the 2022 March quarter from Rs 235.3 crore in the year-ago period.
For the full fiscal year 2021-22, the net loss surged 73 per cent at Rs 1,725 crore from Rs 998.30 crore in the comparable period.
According to the airline, business was severely impacted by the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and high fuel prices in the March quarter.
SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said the industry has been witness to one of the most severe operating environments in the recent past which impacted the progress and recovery made in the third quarter of FY2022.
In the June quarter, jet fuel prices rose 105 per cent on a year-on-year basis and 40 per cent on a sequential basis, the airline said.
"We are optimistic about our future and our continued recovery and in order to achieve our future plans, the board has mandated fresh capital issuance and the company will be shortly engaging with investment bankers for a potential raise of up to USD 200 million," he said.
The airline's cargo arm SpiceXpress was in black during the first quarter of the current fiscal.
It reported a net profit of Rs 18 crore.
Cargo revenues rose 74 per cent to Rs 1,944 crore in FY2022.
"We will soon conclude the hive-off of cargo business into a separate independent company, SpiceXpress in the current quarter which will be followed by capacity enhancement with additional freighter aircraft within FY2023," Singh said.
Singh also said that despite the complex operating environment and highest-ever input costs, SpiceJet has been able to sustain its operations.
"Last year was a period of restructuring and settlements and we successfully completed and implemented settlements with most of our major partners, including manufacturers and lessors setting the stage for our seamless growth and expansion.
"As we move ahead, we are encouraged with the strong travel demand and our focus for the next year would be to induct more fuel-efficient Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft and concentrate on our regional and international routes," he added.
Aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday deregistered two more Boeing 737 planes of SpiceJet following non-payment of dues to lessors.
With the latest deregistration, a total of six Boeing 737 aircraft of the budget carrier have been deregistered in August.
Boeing 737-800 aircraft VT-SPU and Boeing 737-900ER aircraft VT-SGQ have been deregistered under IDERA on August 31, according to a senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Under the Cape Town Convention, lessors and lenders can seek deregistration of a leased aircraft in case there is a default.
Such requests are done under Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA).
In recent months, SpiceJet has been facing turbulent times, including financial headwinds.
In July, the regulator directed the airline to operate only 50 per cent of flights in the wake of many of its planes facing technical issues.
SpiceJet employees on Wednesday alleged delay in the disbursal of salaries for the second straight month, with the budget airline saying the payments were being made in a "graded format".
There was a delay in disbursal of salary for staff, including flight crew, for the month of July and many are yet to get the Form 16 for the financial year 2021-22 as well, SpiceJet employees claimed.
"The salary disbursal was timely for June. Also, the salaries are yet to match the pre-COVID-19 levels. The salaries being disbursed to captains and first officers are not even 50 per cent of what they used to be before the pandemic outbreak in March 2020," an employee told PTI.
However, SpiceJet claimed it has started salary disbursal in a "graded format".
"We have started crediting salaries from today. Like the previous month, salary will be credited in a graded format," the airline said in a statement to PTI.
In an internal communication Wednesday, the SpiceJet's Human Resources team informed employees about the delays citing that the "previous few months have been difficult" due to "superlative fuel price hike" and also "historically lean period of July-September".
"We have started to see some green shoots of relief with reduction in fuel price effective August 1. Passenger demand is also expected to be strong as we enter our traditional strong season in end-September," the communication read.
"However there are few milestones to be reached as we tread these difficult times and overcome the impact of the adverse business environment as we move along. In view of the foregoing, the salaries for the month of August shall be released in a staggered manner starting end-August until mid of next month, as completed in the previous month," it said.
In the wake of the pandemic and continued irregularities in salaries, scores of pilots have left SpiceJet in recent months.
They included first officers as well as captains of its Boeing 737 fleet.
"It was difficult to continue on a salary which was one-third of what I got three years ago. There were also provident fund- and tax-related discrepancies in our payslips because of which many of us ended up paying more taxes even as the salaries we got did not merit those taxes," a former SpiceJet pilot, part of the post-COVID exodus, told PTI.
The pilots and flight crew members have often flagged stress issues due to financial irregularities.