Qantas was among the first airlines to sign on the dotted line for Boeing’s 787, placing a staggering order for up to 115 Dreamliners in December 2005 for delivery beginning in mid-2008.
Advertisement
Australian carrier Qantas on Thursday roared back into the black, turning a Aus$2.84 billion (US$2.08 billion) net loss into a Aus$557 million profit within the space of 12 months.
Qantas has also booked a cost savings from lower fuel costs and the elimination of the carbon taxi which was costing it $120 million a year.
“Without that transformation, we would not be reporting this strong profit, recommencing shareholder returns, or announcing our ultra-efficient Dreamliner fleet for Qantas worldwide”. Revenue rose 3 per cent to $15.8 billion.
The Dreamliners will replace five Boeing 747s and also be used to launch new worldwide destinations.
The airline group said it had 15 further options and 30 purchase rights for more 787s.
Qantas has not declared a dividend but will return $505m to shareholders through a 23 cent per share cash distribution.
“We are halfway through the biggest and fastest transformation in our history”, he said.
“Because the 787 is smaller than the jumbos it will gradually replace, it gives us the flexibility of having more aircraft without significantly changing our overall capacity”.
All of the airline’s businesses reported stronger earnings for the year, including its long-troubled worldwide division, which made a $764m year-on-year turnaround. The payment was subject to shareholder approval at the company’s annual general meeting in October.
While Jetstar took the keys to the first of 11 Dreamliners in late 2013, Qantas management had delayed pushing the go button to buy new planes for its premium global operations.
Meanwhile, Qantas worldwide posted underlying EBIT of $297 million, a turnaround from an underlying EBIT loss of $497 million in 2013/14.
Jetstar recorded underlying earnings of $230 million, up from a $116 million loss a year ago.
Advertisement
The ASX announcements will be followed by a media conference later this morning.
