Auditor S.R. Batliboi & Associates LLP has cast doubt over SpiceJet's status as a going concern given the erosion of the airline's net worth over the last two financial years.
"The Company has accumulated losses and its net worth has been fully eroded, the Company has incurred a net loss during the current and previous year and, the Company’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets as at the balance sheet date. These conditions (...) indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern," the auditors wrote in a note on the carrier's financial statement for the year ended March 31, 2020.
From April 2019 to March 2020, SpiceJet lost INR9.35 billion rupees (USD125 million). In its last financial quarter alone, started on January 1 through the end of March 2020, the airline lost INR8.07 billion (USD107.9 million).
During the financial year ended on March 31, 2019, the carrier's net loss stood at INR3.16 billion (USD42.2 million at the current rate).
The auditors also pointed out that there was no "virtual certainty" for the airline to recognise certain foreign exchange gains and other income as receivables. Had SpiceJet not included these receivables, its yearly net loss would have been INR7.15 billion (USD95.5 million) more.
The carrier's financial report and the associated audit do not take into account the COVID-caused crisis after the end of March. India's national lockdown started on March 25, 2020, with little forewarning.