Qantas shares rally on results, but CEO says earnings volatility part of airline business

by Dramelin 8:30 PM 0 comments

Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways on Thursday announced better-than-expected results, sending share prices rallying to a 10-month high even as net profits tanked 25 percent from a year ago.
Net profit fell to A$515 million.
"Everybody in the region is having bigger drops, 50 per cent to 80 per cent drops in the profitability," Joyce told reporters earlier.
The airline posted underlying pre-tax profit of A$852 million ($653 million) for its first half ending December 31, down from A$921 million a year earlier, but ahead of the A$800-A$850 million guidance it gave in October.
What that is doing is lowering average airfares and passing back the fuel benefits that the airlines are getting back to consumers," he said.