PROFIT OF listed Cebu Air Inc., operator of budget carrier Cebu Pacific, rose 112.5 percent in 2010 as it carried more passengers and charged higher fares that year.
In a disclosure Friday, Cebu Pacific said its profit increased to P6.92 billion for the full year, from P3.258 billion at the end of 2009.
This came as consolidated revenues grew 24.8 percent to P29.09 billion from the previous year’s P23.31 billion, “driven by the increase in the number of passengers and higher average fares.”
Expenses, meanwhile, grew at a slower pace of 12.4 percent to P22.64 billion from P20.15 billion in 2009. This came about despite “the growth in seat capacity year-on-year and higher aviation fuel prices in 2010 compared to 2009.”
As a result, the company’s consolidated operating income totaled P6.45 billion—a 103.9-percent increase year-on-year.
The company said its consolidated assets also rose 40 percent in the past year to P49.94 billion from P35.32 billion in 2009 as it added more aircraft to its fleet.
New aircraft
In the last quarter of 2010 alone, the company took delivery of three new Airbus A320 aircraft for the expansion of its local and regional route network.
Cebu Pacific flew 10.7 million passengers last year—a 21-percent growth year-on-year. About 2 million of these passengers took international flights.
This year, the airline expects to fly another 12 million passengers—about 12.14 percent higher than in 2010.
Cebu Pacific president and CEO Lance Gokongwei earlier said the company would be able to handle the additional traffic due to the delivery of five brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft within the year.
Given its higher profit, the company announced a cash dividend payout of P2 a share for stockholders on record as of April 14. The company also declared a special dividend of P1 a share to be taken out of the company’s unrestricted, retained earnings.
The payment date for both dividends will be on May 12.
Cebu Pacific shares on Friday climbed 0.60 percent, tracking the performance of the main index.