Sydney: Australian carrier Qantas yesterday roared back into the black in a stunning turnaround of fortunes driven by aggressive cost-cutting, while placing an order for eight Boeing Dreamliners.
The airline posted an Aus$557m (US$409m) annual net profit in the year to June 30, a sharp recovery in the space of 12 months from a net loss of Aus$2.84bn in the previous corresponding period.
Underlying profit before tax — Qantas’ preferred measure of financial performance, which excludes one-off costs and write-downs — was Aus$975m, compared to an Aus$646m loss in 2014. Qantas said its cost-cutting programme had helped save Aus$894m over the year and allowed it to pay down debt, while lower fuel prices also helped bolster the bottom line with every segment making healthy profits. No dividend was declared but the airline announced a one-off 23 cents per share capital return to shareholders, amounting to Aus$505m.
Chief Executive Alan Joyce hailed it as “one of the biggest turnarounds in Australian corporate history”. “This transformation has been all about getting our foundations right. Being smarter with our costs; faster with our decisions; more productive with our assets. And on these stronger foundations, we can build a much stronger Qantas,” he said.
“The logic from the beginning was to front-end the tough decisions so the group could reshape its operations as rapidly as possible for long-term, sustainable growth in earnings and shareholder value.”
AFP
