Cebu Pacific income down by more than half in 2018

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Pacific saw its net income fall by 51 percent to P3.9 billion in 2018 amid challenges such as high fuel prices, weak peso, rising interest rates and increasing competition.

The Gokongwei-led carrier also pointed to the six-month closure of Boracay Island last year and operational limitations in the country’s key airports.

Despite that, the company booked a 9 percent increase in its revenue to P74.1 billion, on the back of continued demand for air travel and robust growth of its cargo business. In 2018, the budget carrier flew a total of 20.3 million passengers, up 2.7 percent versus 2017.

On average, the airline’s flights were 85 percent full during the year, with the carrier mounting 390 flights daily.

Revenue growth was driven by sustained growth in passenger revenue, which was up 9 percent at P54.3 billion, and a 6 percent growth in ancillary revenue, according to a regulatory disclosure of its listed operator Cebu Air Inc. yesterday.

Cargo, on the other hand, saw a double digit growth of 19 percent, carrying 210 million kilos of cargo during the year.

“Despite the pressures posed in 2018, we remained resilient,” chief operations officer Michael Ivan Shau said. “We were able to expand our network by upgauging our flights touching congested airports. 2019 will be a different story though—we have already received the first of our fuel-efficient A321NEO orders from Airbus, and we expect 10 more new generation aircraft this year.”

“2019 is definitely the year we accelerate our growth,” he added.

Shau noted the company will continue to invest into aircraft technology and develop secondary hubs like Cebu and Clark.

“We will also continue to grow our cargo business with the incoming ATR freighters as well as continue our digital transformation for us to be more agile and adaptable to changing customer expectations,” he added. (FREEMAN)