Qantas Posts Second-Highest Profit Ever

Like its Trans-Tasman rival, Air NZ, Qantas has delivered its second-highest profit ever in the year to June.

The airline Friday revealed that higher earnings from its domestic business and the low-cost Jetstar drove earnings to $1.4 billion – on an underlying basis.

That was down 8.6% from the record 2015-16 result of $1.53 billion.

In a May update, Qantas forecast that earnings would be around $1.4 billion.

Qantas said its statutory profit before tax was $1.1 billion. Qantas said the fall in statutory profit of $243 million "reflects that the FY16 result included the gain on sale from the Sydney Domestic Terminal."

Up to to $500 million will be paid to shareholders via a 7 cents per share ordinary unfranked dividend, plus an on-market buyback of up to $373 million.

As well non-executive employees will share in $55 million of bonuses.

About Glenn Dyer

Glenn Dyer has been a finance journalist and TV producer for more than 40 years. He has worked at Maxwell Newton Publications, Queensland Newspapers, AAP, The Australian Financial Review, The Nine Network and Crikey.

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