The 31st annual general meeting of budget carrier SpiceJet on 28 December is unlikely to throw surprises, given that a lot has been spoken about the company's success story ever since Ajay Singh took control of the ailing carrier from the Marans in January this year.
The company's 1.32 lakh retail investors (as on 30 September, 2015) holding 17.18 crore shares have seen their investment spurt by 164% in the past three months and 268% in the past six months (the stock closed at Rs 67.25 on 18 December, up from Rs 18.25 on 18 June and Rs 25.4 on 18 September).
The sharp rise in the stock price can be traced to the company's consistent increase in performance over the past few months in a market that is growing but has also seen the competition intensify.
SpiceJet has been consistently increasing the number of passengers flown over the months, from 8.19 lakh in September 2015 to 9.77 lakh passengers in November 2015.
The passenger load factor (PLF), a key metric for air carriers, has also rose steadily from 83.4% in March 2015 to 93.4% in July, before sliding to 90.7% in November 2015. Despite the decline, the PLF for SpiceJet has been the highest among all domestic carriers since April.
The domestic air traffic in India has been growing at a steady pace, with the November traffic at 73.22 lakh passengers marking an increase of 24.65% over 58.74 lakh in November 2014.
During the January-November period this year, domestic carriers flew 733.82 lakh passengers, up 20.41% from 609.43 lakh passengers during the corresponding period last year.
The growth in traffic augurs well for SpiceJet and other carriers.
SpiceJet's fleet of 34 aircraft (as of September 2015) is expected to go up to 49 by the end of FY17, according to the company's presentation after the declaration of second quarter results. The company also plans to infuse equity this financial year and together with the profits generated, hopes to turn its current negative networth into positive.
The success story has paid off for 49-year-old Ajay Singh as well, who holds 354,443,550 shares, or 59.13% of the company's equity.
