Qantas H1 Profit More Than Doubles

February 22, 2016

Qantas' first-half profit more than doubled as it cut costs and reaped the benefits of a lower Australian dollar and oil price.

Qantas said underlying profit before tax was AUD$921 million for the six months to December 31, up from AUD$367 million in the first half of the previous year.

Interim pre-tax profit for Qantas International more than quadrupled, to AUD$270 million from AUD$59 million, its best result since being reported separately, as a lower Australian dollar encouraged more inbound tourism.

Qantas Domestic, the biggest earner, grew its pre-tax profit 70 percent as the company continued to resist heavy discounts to take market share from local rivals such as Virgin Australia.

A declining oil price has also helped: the company said first-half fuel expenses shrank 21 percent to AUD$1.7 billion.

The company said it would buy back another AUD$500 million of its shares on the market, a repeat of the share price supporting measure it took the previous year. It did not declare an interim dividend, the same as the previous year.

(Reuters)