Rahul Bhatia, co-founder of IndiGo, will be the airline’s chief executive officer
Rahul Bhatia, the billionaire co-founder of IndiGo, is taking over the newly formed chief executive officer at the company, after Asia’s largest budget carrier by market value posted quarterly profits. surprise.
Mr Bhatia’s appointment, effective immediately, signaled a truce with co-founder Rakesh Gangwal, who accused Mr. Invalid corporate governance. The founders were embroiled in a bitter public dispute over a 2015 shareholder deal that Mr Gangwal said gave Mr Bhatia control of IndiGo despite the similar size of their shares.
Shareholders of IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., in December voted to remove share transfer restrictions that would have allowed Mr. Gangwal to sell his shares. Bhatia will now focus on expanding the airline in India and abroad, and building the airline in the long term, IndiGo said in a statement to stock exchanges on Friday.
Mr. Bhatia will oversee all aspects of the airline and actively lead the management team, Chairman Meleveetil Damodaran said in the statement.
Earlier in the day, the largest airline in India said it made a quarterly profit, as more people took to the skies after the country emerged from the most devastating phase of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a statement on Friday, the airline posted a profit of 1.3 billion rupees ($17.4 million) for the three months ended December 31, compared with a deficit of 6.3 billion rupees a year earlier. The average forecast from analysts is a loss of Rs 4.15 billion. Revenue came in at Rs 92.95 billion, up from Rs 49.1 billion a year ago.
Indian airlines have begun to recover from the worst of the pandemic last year, with the government allowing local airlines to operate at full capacity as the outbreak hit most places. The emergence of omicrons threatens that recovery, with carriers cutting capacity as demand begins to plummet once again.
IndiGo warns its capacity will fall by about 10-15% in the current quarter, compared with the three months ended in December. It expects passenger traffic and revenue environment to improve as infections just started to go into remission, according to the statement.
Excited by early signs of recovery, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta in November speak The company is ‘inability’ to raise capital through the sale of shares to institutional investors as previously planned. He said at the time.
Total cash at IndiGo, Asia’s largest budget airline by market value, stood at 173.2 billion rupees, while its debt grew 27% to 351.5 billion rupees from a year ago . Yields – a measure of fares and pricing power – rose 19%.
The company is optimistic about the productivity environment and does not see it diminishing, Mr. Dutta said on an analyst call on Friday.
