Cebu Pacific earned P7.139 billion in net income in the first half of 2019, an increase of 115.7% from the P3.309-billion net income reported in the same period last year.
Revenues for the first six months of 2019 reached P44.703 billion, 18.2% higher than the P37.835 billion in revenues earned in the same period in 2018, parent firm Cebu Air, Inc. disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Passenger revenues went up 17.8% to P33.352 billion from P28.303 billion, mainly due to the 8.8% increase in average fares. Passenger volume also grew by 8.3% to 11.213 million from 10.354 million last year as the group added bigger A321 aircraft to its fleet.
Revenues from the cargo business likewise improved 6.9% to P2.836 billion from P2.652 billion following the increase in both volume and yield of cargo transported during the first half of 2019.
Ancillary revenues also grew, up 23.8% to P8.515 billion from P6.879 billion due to the increase in average ancillary revenue per passenger by 14.3% from pricing adjustments and increased volume of certain ancillary products and services.
Expenses
The group incurred operating expenses of P35.772 billion, higher by 8.2% than the P33.060-billion operating expenses reported for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The increase was driven by its expanded operations, growth in seat capacity from acquiring new aircraft and the weakening of the Philippine peso against the U.S. dollar.
Cebu Pacific president and chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei earlier said the group aims to fly 200 million passengers by 2020 and 300 million by 2022. The airline also expects to receive over 60 aircraft in the next eight years. Its latest addition is a dedicated cargo aircraft, one of two orders for delivery this year.
Cebu Pacific and subsidiary Cebgo currently fly to Manila, Clark, Kalibo, Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro (Laguindingan) and Davao. They operate over 2,000 weekly flights across 37 domestic and 26 international destinations.
