India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki suffered a first quarter net loss of Rs 249.4 crore – the first time it has registered a loss in at least 15 years, NDTV reported. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,435.5 crore for the corresponding period a year ago.

The loss this quarter was due to a steep fall in business activity owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The company said it was partially offset by lower operating expenses and higher fair-value gain on the invested surplus.

The revenue from sale of its products came to Rs 3,677.5 crore in the April to June quarter, Maruti Sukuzi said in a BSE filing. This was a decline of 80.37% over the same quarter last year. The company sold 76,599 vehicles in the first quarter 2020-’21. This included sales of 67,027 vehicles in the domestic market, and export of 9,572 vehicles.

The company said it faced zero production and zero sales for a large part of the last three months, due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to combat the pandemic. In May, production and sales both resumed “in a small way”, the company added.

Bharti Airtel

Telecommunications firm Bharti Airtel’s quarterly loss widened to Rs 15,933 crore in the first quarter of 2020-’21, up from a loss of Rs 2,866 crore during the same period last year. The widening of the loss was the result of the company complying with a Supreme Court order, setting aside Rs 36,832.2 crore towards adjusted gross revenue dues.

However, the company’s revenue from operations rose 15.4% to Rs 23,938.7 crore year-on-year. Bharti Airtel’s average revenue per user improved to Rs 157 per month in the April-June quarter, against Rs 129 in the same period a year ago. The company also added 4.3 crore 4G data customers, with a year-on-year growth rate of 45.3%, to reach 13.83 crore.

The operating profit, that is, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, came in at Rs 10,639 crore, and the operating profit margin was 44.4%, it said in an exchange filing.

“We are going through an unprecedented crisis caused by Covid,” Bharti Airtel India and South Asia Managing Director Gopal Vittal said. “Despite this, our teams have served the country well and kept our customers connected.”

IndiGo

Interglobe Aviation Limited, which runs the IndiGo private airline, reported its steepest quarterly loss in over five years of Rs 2,849 crore for the first quarter of 2020-’21, NDTV reported. The company had made a profit of Rs 1,200 crore in April-June last year.

The company’s revenue from operations fell by a whopping 92% to Rs 767 crore in April-June 2020. “Closure of scheduled operations till May 24, 2020 and lower capacity deployment thereafter on account of Covid-19, significantly impacted the quarterly results,” the airline said in its exchange filing.

The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and rentals during April-June were (-)1,421.2 crore.

“The aviation industry is going through a crisis of survival and therefore, our cash balance remains our number one priority,” Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said. “However, we also recognize that major disruptions offer companies opportunities for improvement in product, customer preference, costs and employee engagement.”

On July 28, IndiGo announced a second round of pay cuts for its employees, ranging from between 15% and 35% to tide over the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis. Salaries of senior vice presidents of the company will be trimmed by 30% and of pilots by 28%. This is the second round of pay cuts, after the first one in May.

This came days after IndiGo decided to lay off 10% of its employees. As of March 2019, IndiGo had 23,531 employees on its payroll.