Cebu Pacific said Wednesday its net income fell 5.4 percent in the first half of 2024 mostly because of costlier jet fuel prices and weak peso.
Cebu Pacific said its net income amounted P3.54 billion from January to June, down from P3.74 billion in the same period last year.
The group’s revenues reached P51.439 billion, up by 18.1 percent to P43.55 billion a year ago.
Passenger revenues increased 18.4 percent to P35.68 billion from P30.12 billion due to the overall increase in travel demand.
Passenger volume went up by 12.1 percent, while average fares increased 5.7 percent to P3,101.
Cargo revenues rose 31.9 percent to P2.63 billion from P1.99 billion on the back of a 26.8-percent increase in cargo volume, coupled with 4-percent increase in cargo yield.
The group incurred operating expenses of P45.95 billion, higher by 15.5 percent than P39.790 billion incurred in the same period last year.
“The increase was mainly driven by the increase in flight activity, since a material portion of its expenses are based on flights and flight hours,” Cebu Pacific said.
The company said the weakening of the Philippine peso against the US dollar from an average of 55.25 to 56.91 against the greenback, based on the Philippine Bloomberg Valuation (PH BVAL) weighted average rates, also contributed to the increase in operating expenses.
Flying operations expenses increased 14.2 percent to P19.15 billion from P16.77 billion incurred in the same period last year.
“This was largely due to higher fuel consumption and pilot headcount, in line with the increased flight activity, and the slight increase in average published fuel MOPS price to $100.46 per barrel from $99.26 per barrel average in the same period last year, coupled with the weakening of the Philippine peso against the US dollar,” Cebu Pacific said.
