Qantas Airways has reported a 65% fall in net profit for the fiscal first half which it attributes to the economic downturn and volatility in currency and fuel prices.
The Oneworld carrier says in a statement to the Australian stock exchange that its net profit for the six months ending 31 December fell 68% to A$216 million ($140 million) from A$618 million.
Revenue rose 2% to A$7.9 billion from A$7.8 billion but expenditure rose 10% to A$7.6 billion from A$6.9 billion.
Qantas highlghts that its profit before tax fell 68% to A$288 from A$905 but adds that it is still on track to meet its full-year profit before tax forecast of around A$500 million.
The airline's chairman Leigh Clifford says in a statement that Qantas was "affected by the global economic downturn and the volatility in currency and oil prices".
Crude oil prices fluctuated from $34 to $141 a barrel, the Australian dollar depreciated 31% against the US dollar and the economic downturn adversely affected the airline's premium and international travel, it says.
The group's traffic figures - domestic and international combined- show total passenger numbers fell 0.7% to 19.6 million from 19.7 million.
RPKs fell 2.6% and ASKs rose 0.4% leading to a 2.4 percentage point decline in passenger load factor to 79.7% from 82.1%.
A break-down of the results shows Jetstar fared much better than Qantas' full-service airline.
Jetstar's international business posted a 25% rise in passenger numbers to 951,000 from 759,000, RPKs rose 15%, ASKs were up 13% and the passenger load factor increased 1.1 percentage point to 74.7% from 73.6%.
Qantas on international routes had a 8% fall in passenger numbers to 3.9 million from 4.2 million, RPKs fell 6%, ASKs dropped 3% and the passenger load factor fell 2.7 percentage points to 80.6% from 83.3%.
In terms of Qantas international freight, revenue freight tonne kilometres fell 13%.
Qantas' chairman says: "Our revenues have come under pressure but through calibrating our network, stimulating demand through attractive pricing, maximising the performance of our diversified businesses and retraining costs, we have achieved a very good result in challenging times."
A break-down of Qantas' results shows that Qantas' low-cost carrier Jetstar had a 48% fall in pre-tax profit to A$72 million from A$139, the Qantas frequent flyer programme had a 4% rise in pre-tax profit to A$119 million from A$114 million and Qantas freight had an 11% fall in pre-tax profit to A$41 million from A$46 million.
Qantas says it has been responding to the hard times by reducing capacity and "accelerating initiatives to reduce costs in the short-term while continuing to seek permanent efficiency improvements.
In the fiscal fist half the airline's staff costs rose 28% to A$2.2 billion from A$1.7 billion and fuel costs rose 13% to A$1.9 billion from A$1.7 billion.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
