Jet Air posts Rs12.4-cr net profit in Q2

Jet Airways, India's largest private sector airline, beat market expectations by announcing a of Rs12.4 crore second-quarter net profit on Friday, compared to a loss in the year-ago period, with rising domestic and international passenger traffic bolstering performance. The suffered a company posted a Rs406 crore loss during the June-September period of last year.

Analysts were expecting Jet to post a net loss as the period is considered to be a lean season for airlines in India. Naresh Goyal-controlled airline has been consistently making profits for the past four successive quarters.

Jet's domestic traffic rose by 21.4 per cent, while international traffic moved up by 28.3 per cent. Jet also witnessed higher seat factor for the period, the company said in a statement.

''We are bullish on the sector for the next one year as the oil prices are likely to remain the same,'' said Rashesh Shah, aviation analyst at ICICI securities. Aviation turbine fuel prices currently hover around Rs42,000 per kilolitre.

Revenues for the company rose 33 per cent to Rs3,105 crore against Rs2,325 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The Jet group, comprising Jet Airways and low-cost carriers such as JetLite and Jet Konnect, posted a net loss of Rs50 crore against Rs532 crore for the June-September period.

The company, however, has retained its market leadership position with 27 per cent of the domestic aviation sector, according to the latest Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) figures.

India's aviation sector is currently on an upturn as more people took to the skies during the quarter. Passenger traffic grew by 18.5 per cent in the January-September period.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had last month said that the combined losses of the Indian carriers have come down to $400 million this year from $1.7 billion in 2009.