Cebu Pacific profit doubled in first 9 months

Cebu Air Inc., operator of budget airline Cebu Pacific Air, saw profit double in the first nine months of the year, led by strong passenger volume, higher ticket prices and lower fuel costs.

Cebu Air said in A stock exchange filing Thursday that net income from January to September hit P7.1 billion, up 99.6 percent from P3.56 billion a year ago.

Its net loss in the third quarter narrowed to P583.65 million, compared to P1.64 billion last year, mainly as it pared hedging losses to P138.14 million, versus P1.58 bilion in Jan.-Sept. period of 2015.

Demand remained strong during the period. Cebu Air said total revenue hit P46.69 billion during the nine-months through September— a gain of 10.5 percent. This came from passenger revenue, which rose 10.1 percent to P35.36 billion.

Passenger traffic was up 6 percent to 14.48 million during the period, as capacity inched up by 0.4 percent. Cebu Pacific ended the period with 56 aircraft, compared to 55 during the same period in 2015.

In the meantime, fares also ticked higher during the period. The average increase was 3.8 percent to P2,442 during the nine months through September.

Big growth was also seen in the airline operator’s ancillary revenue, which hit P8.79 billion, up 14.9 percent. This refers to non-ticket revenues such as baggage fees and onboard meals.

Cebu Air also reported a 5.7 percent increase in operating expenses to P37.24 billion, as it expanded operations. Costs were offset by the drop in fuel costs, the largest operating expense for an airline.

Cebu Air said this helped flying operations expenses drop 8.3 percent to P14.69 billion.