IndiGo to seek shareholders' nod to expand Board

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IndiGo, India's biggest airline by market share owned by InterGlobe Aviation Limited, said on Saturday that shareholders' approval will be sought to expand its Board.

According to a company statement: "The Board has decided to seek the approval of the shareholders at the upcoming annual general meeting for expanding the Board to enable the induction of an independent woman director."

The development came after the two-day Board meet which commenced on Friday. The meet assumed significance as the airline's co-founders are up against each other over the control of the company.

On Friday, the Board approved the company's financial results for the quarter ended June 30. It also considered the appointment of a woman director, among other matters.

"I just want to confirm that we had a board meeting today and this board meeting will continue tomorrow as well. The Board in its meeting today had a discussion on the appointment of an independent woman director to the Board of the company," the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ronojoy Dutta said in a post results conference call on Friday.

"Of course, we have to take the step to comply with the law, but in order to induct an independent woman director, we need to change the 'Articles of Association' of the company which now needs to be amended. We are working on this and a final decision on this subject will be made tomorrow," he had said.

Industry sources have said that the company has also approached former Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi to join its board of directors.

On the financial front, IndiGo posted its highest ever quarterly net profit of Rs 1,203 crore for the first quarter of FY 2019-20.

Accordingly, the company's profit grew to Rs 1,203.1 crore from Rs 27.8 crore in the year-ago quarter.

"Strong passenger revenues along with a sharp improvement in cargo performance were key drivers to this improved profitability," Dutta said.

"We are particularly pleased with this quarter because it demonstrated our ability to grow rapidly while simultaneously expanding our margin performance," he said.

As of June 30, IndiGo had a total cash balance of Rs 17,337.1 crore comprising Rs 7,696.8 crore free cash and Rs 9,640.2 crore restricted cash.

It had a fleet of 235 aircraft as of June 30 and operated a peak of 1,437 daily flights during the quarter to 70 destinations, including 17 international cities.

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