Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has made a positive turnaround in the second quarter of 2014 with an income of P1.446 billion from a net loss of P499.8 million in the same period last year.
Cebu Pacific Air also posted a 124.7% growth in net income in the first half of 2014, generating P3.178 billion compared to P1.414 billion posted in the same period last year, as it saw favorable performance from its passage, cargo, and ancillary businesses.
PAL’s total revenue for the second quarter reached P27.298 billion, up 47.4% from the previous year’s revenue of P18.521 billion.
PAL Holdings, Inc., PAL’s mother company, in a disclosure to the Philippine bourse, attributed the growth mainly to the favorable performance of its passage business during the quarter, and the introduction of new routes to London, Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Riyadh, Canton, and Haneda, Japan, among others.
Passenger revenue rose 51.1% to P23.123 billion in the quarter from P15.303 billion year-on-year.
Its cargo business likewise increased its revenue 32.2% to P1.871 billion from P1.416 billion.
Income from other services grew 27.8% in the second quarter to P2.304 billion from P1.802 billion in the preceding year.
From January 2014, PAL changed the end of its fiscal year from March 31 to December 31. With this, it compared its financial statements in the first six months of 2014 with those in the first six months of last year, which covered the period April to June 2013.
From January to June 2014, net income reached P361.4 million, a reversal from the P499.8-million losses sustained from April to June 2013.
Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) hopes to buy Lucio Tan group’s shares in PAL in the third quarter of 2014 to take full control of the carrier.
SMC in 2012 bought a 49% stake in PAL for $500 million from LT Group, a holding firm controlled by tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan.
Cebu Pacific results
Meanwhile, for the second quarter alone, Cebu Pacific’s net income surged 1,071.1% to P3.014 billion from P 257.341 million in the second quarter of 2013.
Revenue for the first six months rose 23% to P26.717 billion from P21.726 billion in the comparable period in 2013, Cebu Pacific’s parent company, Cebu Air, Inc. said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Revenues from freight grew 17.3% to P1.437 billion from P1.226 billion year-on-year following an increase in volume and average freight charges of cargo transported in the first half of 2014.
Passenger revenues rose 22.8% to P20.852 billion from P16.977 billion in 2013, driven by more flights in the first half of 2014 that spurred a 13.8% growth in passenger volume to 8.5 million from 7.5 million in the prior-year period.
The number of flights went up 4.4% year-on-year as Cebu Pacific fortified its fleet of aircraft to 52 from 44 aircraft in the first half of 2013.
Average fares also increased 7.9% to P2,450 from P2,270, contributing to the improved passenger revenues.
In addition, revenues from ancillary services reached P4.428 billion, or 25.7% higher than the P3.524 billion logged in the first six months of last year.
In February, Cebu Pacific signed a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% of Tigerair Philippines for $15 million.
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