Feb 26 (Reuters) – Australia’s Qantas Airways reported a better-than-expected first-half underlying profit on Thursday, bolstered by resilient demand across its flagship and budget offerings.
Robust demand across domestic and international markets, additional overseas routes, and the induction of new aircraft supported Qantas in the first half.
The company also said that bookings are expected to stay resilient across its network for the rest of the year.
Qantas’s domestic unit posted a 5% rise in revenue, driven by higher capacity, while its budget airline Jetstar’s domestic arm reported a 38% jump in underlying operating earnings.
That helped the country’s flag carrier report first-half underlying profit before tax of A$1.46 billion ($1.04 billion), ahead of the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$1.42 billion, and the A$1.39 billion it posted in the prior corresponding period.
Qantas also announced a share buy-back of up to A$150 million and an interim dividend of 19.8 Australian cents a share.
($1 = 1.4047 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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