Spicejet Oct-Dec 07 profit falls 22.5 pc

New Delhi, Jan 22 (UNI) Budget airline SpiceJet net profit fell 22.5 per cent to Rs 9.3 crore in October-December 2007 on a revenue of Rs 43.8 crore, it was announced today.

''The net profit would have been about Rs 25 crore for the quarter if the aviation fuel prices would not have increased in October,'' Spicejet Executive Chairman Siddhanta Sharma told a press conference.

The company expects a loss of Rs 50 crore in 2007-08 due to high oil prices, he said.

The net profit in the last quarter includes non-operating income of Rs 3.53 crore from foreign exchange fluctuation and profit of Rs 5.76 crore from sale of two aircraft.

However, at the operation level, the company achieved a break-even with a profit of Rs 40 lakh compared to an operation loss of Rs 25.93 crore last year, he said.

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