PAL widens net loss in 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Airlines (PAL) widened its net loss in 2019, posting its third consecutive year of losses.

PAL Holdings Inc., the operator of the country’s flag carrier, in a stock exchange filing yesterday reported a net loss of P10.31 billion last year, a 138 percent increase from the P4.33 billion net loss recorded in 2018.

“For the year ended December 31, 2019, the company recognized other comprehensive loss of P496.24 million as against the other comprehensive income of P864.15 million in 2018. The decline was mainly due to the changes in actuarial assumptions of retirement benefits,” PAL said.

PAL’s consolidated revenues, however, saw a 2.7 percent year-on-year improvement to P154.54 billion on the back of the increase in passenger revenues.

Passenger revenues for the year went up by 4.2 percent due to additional frequencies and new routes which resulted to the growth in passenger numbers.

The growth in passenger revenues, however, was partly offset by lower cargo revenues and ancillary revenues, which fell 8.2 percent and five percent, respectively.

PAL said flying operations expenses decreased by 5.4 percent last year due to lower jet fuel costs, while aircraft and traffic servicing expenses grew one percent as a result of higher landing and take-off fees.

The last time PAL finished a year profitable was in 2016, despite net earnings falling 39 percent year-on-year then.

In 2019, PAL said it maintained a strong market share in its international routes despite competition with legacy carriers and growing number of low cost carriers in the Asia Pacific region.

For the domestic market, PAL said it held a 34 percent share, behind the Cebu Pacific group’s 47 percent, but higher than Air Asia’s 19 percent.

PAL finished 2019 with an international route network covering 40 cities in 19 countries, and a domestic network covering 31 cities and towns.