Mumbai, May 26: Jet Airways continued to remain profitable for the fourth straight quarter when it reported a net profit of Rs 397.16 crore today against a net loss of Rs 1,728.99 crore a year ago. The carrier's robust performance came on the back of lower fuel expenses.

Aircraft fuel expenses during the period fell to Rs 999.07 crore from Rs 1,334.47 crore in the year-ago period. With other expenses also declining over the corresponding quarter, total expenses stood at Rs 4,848.14 crore (Rs 5,595.64 crore).

The country's second-largest airline by market share also reported a profit for the fiscal ended March 2016. Consolidated net profit during the year stood at Rs 1,211.65 crore against a loss of Rs 2,097.41 crore in the preceding fiscal.

According to the carrier, this is its highest-ever annual profit and thereby it has returned to profitability a year earlier than the target set in its turnaround plan two years ago.

"Jet Airways has been revitalised as a business in the last two years. Our focused efforts have resulted in a significant improvement in operational performance, leading to a record profitability. Customer satisfaction, network enhancement and driving benefits through further improvements in operational efficiencies continue to be our key priorities,'' said Naresh Goyal, chairman of Jet Airways.

Jet Airways said a consistent strong performance had enabled it to cut debt by Rs 1,680 crore during the year. It pointed out that the cost per available seat kilometre, excluding fuel, fell 3.2 per cent to Rs 3.26 in 2015-16 from Rs 3.37 in 2014-15, indicating a success in achieving operational efficiencies throughout its business.

During the quarter, passenger revenues rose 3.1 per cent to Rs 4,686 crore from Rs 4,543 crore year ago.

The market could not react to the results which came after market hours. The Jet Airways' scrip finished at Rs 606.55, up 1.29 per cent, on the BSE today.