IndiGo’s Board meet to continue; Q1 net profit rises to Rs 1,203 cr

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IndiGo

New Delhi,  InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.-owned India’s biggest airline by market share, IndiGo’s Board meet will continue even on Saturday even as it approved the company’s financial results for the quarter ended June 30 on Friday.

The Board of the airline, whose co-founders are up against each other over the control of the airline, will among other things decide to consider appointment of a women director.

“I just want to confirm that we had a board meeting today and this board meeting will continue tomorrow as well. The Board in its meeting today had a discussion on the appointment of an independent woman director to the Board of the company,” the company’s Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said in the post results conference call.

“Of course, we have to take the step to comply with the law but in order to induct an independent woman director, we need to change the ‘Articles of Association’ of the company which now needs to be amended. We are working on this and a final decision on this subject will be made tomorrow.”

According to industry sources, the company has also approached Former Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi to join its directors’ board.

On the financial front, India’s biggest airline by market share posted its highest ever quarterly net profit at Rs 1,203 crore for the first-quarter of 2019-20.

Accordingly, the company’s profit grew to Rs 1,203.1 crore from Rs 27.8 crore in the year-ago quarter.

“Strong passenger revenues along with a sharp improvement in cargo performance were key drivers to this improved profitability,” Dutta said.

“We are particularly pleased with this quarter because it demonstrated our ability to grow rapidly while simultaneously expanding our margin performance.”

As of June 30, IndiGo had a total cash balance of Rs 17,337.1 crore comprising of Rs 7,696.8 crore of free cash and Rs 9,640.2 crore of restricted cash.

It had a fleet of 235 aircraft as of June 30 and operated a peak of 1,437 daily flights during the quarter to 70 destinations including 17 international cities.