PAL Holdings posts P9.5B in earnings in H1

PAL Holdings Inc., the parent company of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), posted a 30% decline in its earnings in the first half of 2024 because of higher expenditures related to its fleet expansion and increased operations.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, PAL Holdings reported a total comprehensive income of P9.5 billion, down from P13.5 billion in the same period last year.

Total revenues stood at P90.9 billion, up 4% from P87.4 billion year-on-year. 

Its expenses, however, ballooned to P80.3 billion from P69.8 billion in the first half of 2023.

"Philippine Airlines remains on track in its transformative growth strategy as we deliver a more efficient airline offering quality service to fulfill our mandate as the Philippines’ flag carrier and only full-service airline with the largest network,” said PAL Holdings president and chief operating officer Lucio Tan III.

In the January–June period, PAL Holdings said it expanded its network by 11% and carried 7.9 million passengers across its international and domestic routes, up 13% year-on-year.

The flag carrier said its expansion initiative is in line with the post-pandemic overall growth in air travel, as Ninoy Aquino International Airport has seen 13% growth in passenger volume.

"As the industry adjusts to a re-balancing between demand and capacity and continues to face cost challenges, we are implementing a disciplined investment plan to upgrade our fleet and continue our digital transformation so that we can serve our passengers better," said Stanley Ng, PAL president and chief operating officer.

“We are happy to announce a milestone expansion of our Mabuhay Miles lifestyle program, having just breached the level of six million members,” he added.

The airline’s passenger revenues grew by 2.05% to P79.84 billion in the first half of 2024 compared with P78.24 billion in the same period last year due to the increase in passenger volume, partially offset by the decrease in average fare per passenger.

Cargo revenues also grew to P4.12 billion from P3.81 billion a year ago due to higher cargo volume.

Ancillary revenues rose by 28.56% to P6.90 billion, mainly due to the higher volume of ticket rebooking and seat upgrades.

The airline said its flying operations expenses in the first half of the year stood at P42.91 billion, up 13.09% from P37.94 billion a year earlier amid the 7.10% increase in fuel consumption brought about by the increase in the number of flights operated. — VBL, GMA Integrated News