MANILA - PHILIPPINE Airlines reported a loss of US$113.8 million (S$173.9 million) for the first six months of the fiscal year due to a surge in fuel prices, the national flag carrier announced on Wednesday.

It said the rise in fuel prices came during the second quarter of the fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2009.

Despite a profit of 45.8 million dollars during the first quarter, this was overshadowed by the relentless increases in fuel costs in the following quarter, which more than erased all its gains, the airline said in a statement.

'The near-doubling of the average price of aviation fuel from US$83.73 a barrel in July-to-September 2007 to 157.03 in the same period in 2008 impacted heavily on PAL's expenses and, ultimately, on its bottom line,' the statement said.

Revenues for the first half rose 16.5 per cent to US$848.7 million as the number of passengers rose 11.2 per cent to 4.19 million, it added.

The airline reported a net profit of US$30.6 million for the financial year ending March 31, 2008, down from US$130.5 million dollars the previous year.

In September, PAL president Jaime Bautista said it was likely that the airline would see a sharp drop in net profit in the fiscal year to March 2009 due to the oil price rise.

PAL, which is controlled by Lucio Tan, one of the country's richest men, has previously posted four consecutive years of profitability. It emerged from an eight-year rehabilitation in October 2007. -- AFP