Philippines' largest airline says profit up strongly

Cebu Pacific saw its half-year net profit soar 63 percent as low fuel costs helped it take full advantage of higher passenger and cargo traffic, the Philippines' largest airline said Friday.

The carrier reported a net income of 5.2 billion pesos ($112 million) for the January to June period, compared to 3.2 billion pesos a year earlier.

However, profit was down slightly to 2.9 billion pesos from 3.0 billion pesos in the three months to June as the cost of the company renewing its fleet and foreign exchange losses due to a rising dollar offset revenue gains.

Passenger revenues in the first half grew 9.4 percent to 22.8 billion pesos, as increased flights drove traffic 8.2 percent higher to 9.2 million passengers, it said.

Cargo revenues grew 11.4 percent to 1.6 billion pesos.

"The group generally records higher domestic revenue in January, March, April, May and December as festivals and school holidays in the Philippines increase seat load factors," the company told the stock exchange in a disclosure.

Rival Philippine Airlines reported on Tuesday a near 10-fold increase in net profit to 5.8 billion pesos, citing peak demand.