Cebu Pacific income soared in first half

Cebu Air Inc., operator of budget carrier Cebu Pacific Air, reported that its profit jumped by a hefty 124.7 percent in the first six months of 2014 on higher revenues.

Cebu Air said in a stock exchange filing Wednesday that its net income during the period hit P3.18 billion.

Gains were supported by higher revenues, which increased by 23 percent to P26.72 billion. The budget airline, which cornered more than half of the domestic market, carried more passengers during the period even as average ticket prices increased.

Cebu Air said passenger revenue alone was up 22.8 percent to P3.87 billion during the six months through June as passenger volume increased by 13.8 percent to 8.5 million passengers.

Cebu Air said flights also rose by 4.4 percent as the carrier bought more planes, including wide-body Airbus A330s. Its fleet is now comprised of 52 planes from the 44 seen in the first half last year.

The carrier said average fares amounted to P2,450—7.9 percent higher than that of the same period last year.

Cebu Air reported a foreign exchange gain of P717.78 million during the six-month period as the peso strengthened against the US dollar.