Bangalore, May
31:
Kingfisher
Airlines net losses have trebled during the fourth quarter of last fiscal
because of higher fuel costs and a falling rupee.
Net losses
increased to Rs 1,151.52 crore, while income from services more than halved to
Rs 741.27 crore, the airline's press statement said.
Notably, the
fourth quarter losses contributed to almost 50 per cent of the company's total
losses for 2011-2012. For the entire year, the company's losses more than
doubled to Rs 2,328 crore (Rs 1,027.4 crore). The company's performance was
impacted primarily due to additional fuel cost and additional cost due to
depreciation of the Rupee and lower revenue generation due to reduction of
operational capacity in an attempt to contain losses, the statement said.
During the
fourth quarter of 2011-12, the company's fuel expenses came down by 18 per cent
to Rs 545.12 crore because of reduction in operations. For the full year, fuel
expenses grew nearly 30 per cent to Rs 2,945.89 crore.
In the filing
with the Bombay Stock Exchange, the auditors have noted that the company has
“incurred substantial losses and its net-worth has been eroded”. Aviation
analysts and auditing experts pointed out that though the auditors were being
conservative in their reporting, the company has sought to differ with them in
a bid to help their balance sheet. For instance, the company said in the BSE
filing, “Deferred Tax Asset is recognised on account of unabsorbed depreciation
and business losses for the year ended March 31, 2012, aggregating to Rs
1,118.08 crore. The management is of the opinion that there is a virtual
certainty supported by convincing evidence against which such deferred tax will
be realised, notwithstanding that the auditors have opined to the contrary”.
Kingfisher
Airlines stock price closed at an all-time low of Rs 10. 50, down nearly five
per cent on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment