Wake me up when September ends: PAL posts P1.5B net loss in first month since filing Chapter 11

Bankrupt Philippine Airlines (PAL) posted a net loss of P1.5 billion in the first month since bilyonaryo owner Lucio Tan sought Chapter 11 protection in New York.

In a monthly report by PAL chief financial officer Nilo Thaddeus Rodriguez to the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, PAL posted revenues of

P4.59 billion from September 3 to 30 with P3 billion coming from passengers and P1.29 billion from cargo.

Expenses and charges were pegged at P6.1 billion with roughly half due to flying operations.

PAL has lost a total of P111.55 billion from 2017 to the first half of 2021 with P73 billion incurred during the pandemic ravaged 2020.

PAL’s cash holdings jumped 116 percent to P3.85 billion after the bankruptcy court allowed Tan to infuse immediately $20 million (P1 billion) of $505 million bailout plan for the flag carrier.

PAL warned that it would not survive the third week of September if Tan was not allowed to pump in fresh cash into the airline. PAL pays approximately $48 million ($2.4 billion) monthly for its loans and leases.

PAL said it has negative equity of P100 billion with P300 billion in debt and P4 billion in total assets.