Qantas is on track for what could be a record first half after announcing it will more than double its pre-tax profit for the six months to December 31.
The airline on Tuesday said improved revenue, cost cutting and continued lower fuel prices had put it on course for a pre-tax underlying profit of between $875 million and $925 million.
That’s a significant increase on the $367 million it reported in the prior corresponding period and in the region of the record $905 million for the first half of the 2008 financial year, a result that laid the platform for a record full year pre-tax profit of $1.41 billion.
Beating that would put Qantas on course to report a net profit in excess of that year’s record $969.7 million.
‘We’ve seen improved revenue in our domestic and international operations, reduced costs across the group through the Qantas Transformation program, and expect another record half-year result from Qantas Loyalty,’ chief executive Alan Joyce said.
‘This strong performance is underpinned by our continued focus on delivering the best service for our customers in all of the markets we serve.’
Qantas bounced back into the black in FY15, after the previous year’s record loss, thanks to its $2 billion Qantas transformation program, revenue growth and a hedging program that exploited falling fuel prices.
Those factors are in play again this financial year.
Qantas reported a full year net profit of $557 million for FY15, almost all of which was handed back to shareholders.
Source:skynews.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 