PAL in the black

MANILA  Philippine Airlines’ parent firm said Friday it had returned to profitability for the first time in three years as passenger yields improved and fuel and other costs were reined in.
In a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange Thursday, PAL Holdings reported an after-tax net profit of 129.74 million pesos (USD2.93 million) in its fiscal year to 31 December.
The annual profit was PAL Holdings’ first since March 2011, the company said in a statement issued Friday.
“Our encouraging performance in 2014 signals that PAL has now turned the corner,” Jaime Bautista, president of both PAL and PAL Holdings said in the statement.
inside no 9PAL Holdings recorded a net loss of 11.85 billion pesos in its previous fiscal year, according to the exchange filing.
PAL Holdings said the previous three years had been difficult as it grappled with industrial unrest, surging fuel prices, major natural disasters in key international and domestic markets, and robust competition.
In 2011 it cut 12% of its international flights, 30% of domestic flights and laid off nearly 40% of its staff to cut costs.
Last year, operating revenues nearly doubled to 100.9 billion pesos as passenger revenues soared, the company said.
While expenses also surged as PAL added 19 aircraft, the re-fleeting allowed it to retire 16 ageing wide-body aircraft, trimming its biggest costs of fuel and maintenance, it added.
The United States’ decision to lift aviation safety restrictions on Philippine carriers was also key, it said.
This allowed the airline to deploy a fleet of newly-acquired Boeing 777 jets for long-haul flights to the United States. PAL resumed flights to New York last month.
The airline also recently announced the purchase of two Airbus jets for regional flights, on top of the 54 Airbus planes it had ordered in a 2012 re-fleeting programme worth more than USD7 billion.
PAL, through PAL Holdings, is controlled by Chinese-Filipino billionaire Lucio Tan, who is the country’s fifth-wealthiest man according to Forbes magazine.
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sourced:ttrweekly.com