InterGlobe Aviation hits 10-month high; zooms 90% from 52-week low

The stock was trading 4% higher at Rs 1,325 apiece in the morning trade, its highest level since May 2, 2018 on the BSE.

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, parent of IndiGo, hit a 10-month high of Rs 1,325, up 4 per cent on Wednesday, even when other airline stocks slipped up to 8 per cent in the intra-day trade.

The stock of InterGlobe Aviation hit its highest level on May 2, 2018. It rallied 90 per cent from its 52-week low level of Rs 697 touched on September 10, 2018, as compared to a 10 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. It hit an all-time high level of Rs 1,520 on April 20 last year.

SpiceJet dipped 8 per cent to Rs 72.50, while Jet Airways slipped 4 per cent to Rs 237 in the intra-day trade, after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s aviation regulator, grounded Boeing 737 MAX planes following the fatal crash of a plane of the same model in Ethiopia that killed 157 people.

According to a PTI report, IndiGo, the country's largest airline in terms of market share, announced a three-day special Holi sale across its domestic and international network for travel between March 19 and September 28.

The news agency also reported that IndiGo is offering jobs to pilots of Jet Airways along with compensation for overdue salaries from the cash-strapped full service airline.

Analysts at Elara Capital reiterate Buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,471 on margins recovery from increase in airfares, drop in crude oil prices and reduction in capacity by Jet Airways.

“Management indicates IndiGo’s long-term strategy is to first focus on trunk routes, then on tier-2 city routes and then on international routes. Subsequently, we expect higher share of A321Neos on fleet addition for international routes during FY20 that bodes well for domestic market as industry’s supply addition would slow down,” the brokerage firm said in a quarterly update.

Analysts at JP Morgan expect IndiGo to have long-term structural benefits being the largest domestic airline with around 43 per cent market share, growing low cost / unbundled international business and lowest cost structure amongst domestic operators. 
 

The strong fleet addition program is likely to provide volume compounding over the next five years. For the near term, however, "we are cautious on profitability margins as yield environment has been volatile and we are yet to see the company return to erstwhile spreads," the brokerage firm said in a report dated March 9 with ‘underweight’ rating on the stock.