SpiceJet hits record high; stock zooms over 100% in 2017

The stock was up 4% at Rs 116.90, surpasses its previous high of Rs 115 touched on September 5, 2005

SpiceJet hit a record high of Rs 116.90, up 4% on BSE in intra-day trade, surpassing its previous high of Rs 115 touched on September 5, 2005.

The stock has zoomed 104% thus far in the calendar year 2017 from Rs 57.20 on December 30, 2016, against 12.5% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex during the same period. By comparison, Jet Airways and InterGlobe Aviation added 54% and 38%, respectively, during the same period.

According to March 2017 shareholding pattern, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and mutual funds (MFs) have increased their stake in SpiceJet by two percentage points each. FPI holding in company increased to 4.42% from 2.16% and that of MFs to 3.64% from 1.05%.

Since February 13, 2017, post October-December (Q3FY17) results, the stock soared 80% from Rs 64 against 6% rise in the benchmark index.

SpiceJet reported profit of Rs 181 crore in Q3FY17, was the eighth consecutive profitable quarter for the budget airline since its turnaround after the December 2014 crisis and management change.

Indian aviation companies with around 65% of their costs linked to USD (Aviation Turbine Fuel and aircraft leasing/maintenance costs) could be the biggest beneficiaries of rupee appreciation.

“A stronger rupee coupled with the reversal in crude prices (post some uptick in H2FY17) bodes well for the aviation companies that had been impacted by cost and pricing pressures in FY17. If these early trends for Re and crude were to continue for a major portion of FY18, we expect earnings for aviation companies to see substantial upgrades, given that their profitability is highly sensitive to these variables,” analyst at SBICAP Securities said in recent report have a ‘Buy’ on SpiceJet with price target of Rs 126.

At 09:43 am; the SpiceJet was up 3.4% at Rs 116.10 against 0.11% rise in the Sensex. Around 2.8 million shares have already changed hands in first half-an-hour of trade as against an average 7.99 million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on BSE.