MANILA - Cebu Pacific’s net loss widened in the third quarter as the peso depreciated and pushed up the cost of the airline’s US-dollar denominated liabilities.

The company said it incurred foreign exchange losses of P1.77 billion in the third quarter, which deepened its net loss to P8.2 billion, versus a P5.54 billion net loss incurred in the same period last year.

From January to September, Cebu Pacific has booked a net loss of P21.99 billion, which was deeper than the P14.69 billion loss it incurred during the same period last year.

The Gokongwei-led carrier however also said that revenues surged 62 percent year-on-year to P3.25 billion for the third
quarter, as flights increased 69 percent.

Passenger revenues surged to P1.31 billion, 246 percent higher year-on-year, Cebu Pacific said.

The gains came from a low base in the third quarter of last year when Cebu Pacific restarted its operations after an air travel suspension which lasted for most of the second quarter.

Despite the stricter quarantine imposed in the July to September period, Cebu Pacific said it flew 704,000 passengers in the third quarter, 10 percent higher than the second quarter.

“More recently, with COVID case counts and positivity rates decreasing to levels seen in February 2021, Metro Manila has recently de-escalated to Alert level 2, setting the stage for a stronger demand recovery,” the airline said.

Local carriers are expected to continue absorbing losses this year even as quarantine restrictions are eased, according to an industry group.

• Cebu Pacific passengers up 15% in Q2
• Cebu Pacific sees brighter Q4 on back of domestic tourism, bats for removing arrivals cap

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