India's Kingfisher Airlines Q4 loss more than trebles

May 31, 2012 |

Reuters

mumbai

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Kingfisher Airlines' net loss more than trebled in the quarter to end-March from a year earlier, battered by high fuel prices and a weakened rupee, but the ailing Indian carrier pledged a return to full-scale operations in the next 12 months.

Debt-laden Kingfisher, controlled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, has slashed its flight network down to the bare bones as it seeks cash to continue operations and repay around $1.3 billion of loans.

"The company has a focused fleet re-induction plan and hopes to be back to full-scale operations in the next 12 months backed by a recapitalization plan that the company is actively pursuing and confident of achieving," Kingfisher said in a statement on Thursday.

Kingfisher lost Rs 11.5 billion ($90.1 million) in the fiscal fourth quarter, 74.8 per cent more than a loss of Rs 3.6 billion a year previously. Revenue fell 54 per cent to Rs 7.4 billion.

Kingfisher has pared its schedule to 120 flights per day from 370 per day in September and has ditched its international operations in an attempt to bring losses under control.

The airline has become a byword for India's brutal airline industry, where carriers struggle with high taxes on jet fuel, a harsh regulatory environment and cut-throat competition that keeps fares low.

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