Cebu Air posts P538.44-million net income in Q3

MANILA, Philippines - Cebu Air, Inc., the operator of budget airline Cebu Pacific, reported a turnaround in its net profits in the third quarter amid higher passenger and cargo revenues.

Cebu Air said in its report to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday its net income reached P538.44 million in the third quarter, a reversal of the P219.27 million net loss incurred in the same period last year.

The improvement in its net earnings was seen on the back of the 3.7 percent increase in passenger revenues which reached P6.15 billion in the July to September period compared to the P5.93 billion it posted a year ago.

Cargo revenues were also up 8.5 percent to P608.44 million in the third quarter from the same period last year.

Operating expenses, meanwhile, amounted to P7.97 billion in the third quarter, which increased by 5.3 percent from last year’s P7.57 billion.

For the January to September period, Cebu Air’s net income rose slightly to P2.27 billion from last year’s P2.22 billion.

Passenger revenues in the nine-month period grew 10.1 percent to P21.80 billion from the same period last year.

“The growth was primarily due to the... increase in passenger volume to 9.8 million from 8.7 million in 2011 driven by the increased number of flights in 2012,” Cebu Air said.

The number of flights rose 14.6 percent year-on-year as a result of the increase in the number of aircraft operated by the firm.

Cargo revenues likewise posted a 14.4 percent growth to P1.74 billion in the nine-month period compared to the previous year.

Revenues generated for the January to September period amounted to P27.87 billion, 14 percent higher than in the comparable period last year.

The company also saw its operating expenses climb by 18 percent to P26.16 billion from last year due to seat growth as well as higher fuel costs.