SpiceJet third-quarter profit rises over 32 percent

(Reuters) - Low-cost carrier SpiceJet Ltd reported a more than 32 percent rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by a higher passenger load factor and an increase in passenger yields.

The airline's standalone net profit, which excludes results of units SpiceJet Merchandise and SpiceJet Technic, was 2.40 billion rupees ($37.42 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with 1.81 billion rupees a year ago. http://bit.ly/2BdZ2KQ

Net income from operations rose 29 percent to 20.65 billion rupees.

Passenger yields, a measure of average fare and distance flown, climbed 14 percent, while the average domestic passenger load factor, which measures how much of an airline's passenger carrying capacity is used, was in excess of 95 percent.

($1 = 64.1400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting By Arnab Paul and Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier and Subhranshu Sahu)