Shares of Australian flag carrier Qantas rose to a record high Thursday after its full-year earnings results beat estimates, buoyed by resilient demand across its domestic and international networks.
Qantas stock rose as high as 13.59% in early trading, before paring gains to trade 9% higher as of 12:33 p.m. local time (10.33 p.m. ET Wednesday).
The carrier reported a 15% jump in underlying profit before tax to A$2.39 billion ($1.6 billion), beating the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$2.38 billion. Its revenue rose 8.6% to A$23.82 billion for the year ended June 30.
Qantas also stated a final dividend of 16.5 Australian cents per share and an additional special payout of 9.9 cents, bringing total ordinary dividends for the year to 33 cents a share — the airline’s biggest annual payout in 17 years.
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson noted that its budget arm, Jetstar, had a “standout year” with its fleet renewal fueling a significant boost to earnings. It comes in spite of the closure of Jetstar’s Asia arm on July 31 due to ” rising costs and competition in the region.”
