Cebu Pacific income soars 64% in H1

MANILA, Philippines - The operator of low cost carrier Cebu Pacific saw its net profit jump 64 percent in the first half of the year from a year ago amid higher revenues and lower expenses.

Cebu Air Inc. reported yesterday its net income reached P5.20 billion in the first-half, up from the P3.18 billion in the same period a year ago.

The higher net earnings came as the budget airline generated P29.51 billion worth of revenues in the first semester this year, 10 percent higher than the P26.72 billion in the same period in 2014.

Passenger revenues grew nine percent to P22.81 billion as of end-June from P20.85 billion in the same period in the previous year.

The increase in passenger rev-enues was attributed to the eight

percent uptick in passenger volume to 9.2 million in the first-half from 8.5 million a year ago.

Also contributing to the higher passenger revenues was the increased number of flights which climbed 11 percent year-on-year, following the acquisition of new Airbus A330 aircraft with a configuration of more than 400 all-economy seats.

The increase in average fares to P2,474 for the first six months of the year from P2,446 for the same period last year also contributed to the growth in revenues.

Cargo revenues rose 11 percent to P1.60 billion as of end-June from the previous year’s P1.44 billion due to the higher volume of cargo transported.

Ancillary revenues including online bookings posted a 15 percent increase to P5.09 billion in the year from P4.43 billion a year ago.

The airline’s expenses dipped slightly to P23.47 billion for the first semester of the year from P23.76 billion last year.

“The decrease is attributable to the substantial reduction in fuel costs incurred for the six months ended June 30, 2015 compared to the same period last year due to the sharp decline in global jet fuel prices,” the airline said.

Expenses from flying operations declined 18 percent to P10.81 billion for the first-half of 2015 from P13.10 billion a year ago as aviation fuel expenses fell 22 percent to P9.156 billion in line with the significant drop in world jet fuel prices.