Philippine Airlines expects to post a net profit in the third quarter, on the back of higher passenger traffic, a top executive said over the weekend.
“In terms of profitability we are within our targets [in the third quarter]. Passenger revenue is within budget, [but] the cargo revenue is a little bit down,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said.
PAL Holdings Inc., the parent company of PAL, earlier reported a comprehensive income of P1.92 billion in the second quarter, down 11 percent from P2.16 billion last year.
Total earnings in the second quarter reached P28.45 billion, up slightly from P28.30 billion a year ago.
PAL Holdings said it was planning a share swap transaction with minority shareholders in a bid to acquire 100 percent of the flag carrier.
PAL Holdings said the transaction involved the exchange of its shares between PAL minority shareholders comprising 1.66 percent of the total outstanding shares of the flag carrier.
Under the transaction, five shares of PAL would be swapped to one share of PAL Holdings.
“We expect that the implementation of the transaction will extend to the first quarter of 2017 due to the widely held share of Philippine Airlines’s minority shareholders,” PAL Holdings said.
PAL Holdings said the transaction would be advantageous to PAL’s minority shareholders who might want to avail of a convenient exit mechanism to benefit from the value of the shares.
“The PAL shares are not traded so if we will swap it with PAL Holdings shares the employees can sell it through the stock market. There would be a liquidity,” Bautista said.
PAL, on the other hand, will have an opportunity to increase its public float.
Bautista said aside from PAL employees, state-run Government Service Insurance System, Department of Finance, Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines and the Retirement and Separation Benefits System hold shares in the airline.