Qantas Records AUS$557M Profit in 2015

20th Aug 2015

This Thursday, the largest Australian airline Qantas posted a full-year profit of $409 million (AUS$557 million). The carrier lost 2.6 billion US dollars in the last year.

In an official statement, the carrier said the revenue for the fiscal year through June was a result of strong performances throughout all of its business sectors. For instance, Qantas' much criticized international arm turned a 267 million Australian dollars profit for this year, while last year, it recorded a loss of $AUS408 million

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said:

"We are halfway through the biggest and fastest transformation in our history. Without that transformation, we could not be reporting this strong profit."

Qantas is also expected to return AUS$505 million to shareholders through an AU23% per share distribution this November.

Discussing Qantas' turnaround and the possibility of a dividend, Morningstar analyst Ross MacMillan said:

"With cash flows up strongly we think there may be scope for a small dividend next year."

Meanwhile, the Australian company is set to buy eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner planes in the next two years. These will replace the older Boeing 747 and Airbus A330 aircrafts. Qantas also expect to save on fuel by using the Dreamliners, which also have a longer range than 747s or A330s

Qantas was reluctant to get into buying the Dreamliners until it succeeded in making a turnaround in its profitability. To achieve this, the carrier cut no less than 5,000 employees in 2015 and has also made an agreement with pilots and cabin crews to freeze their wages for the next 18 months.

In return, the deal, signed by the majority (82 per cent) of 1300 Qantas pilots, promises that the Dreamliners will be flown by its long-haul operations, thus greatly securing the pilots' long-term careers.