(9News) Australia’s national carrier Qantas will return a further $500 million of capital to shareholders after Australia’s biggest airline reported an 84.7 percent jump in annual net profit to $1.03 billion.
The airline reported a record underlying profit of $1.53 billion in what is the best result in its 95-year history.
The result was boosted by lower fuel prices.
The company resumed paying dividends of seven cents per share, the first payout since 2009 and also announced a share buy-back of $500 billion.
“Transformation has made us a more agile business, created value for our shareholders and given us a platform to invest for the future,” chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement.
“Qantas is stronger than ever, but we’re also determined to keep changing and adapting so that we can succeed no matter what environment we’re in.”
The aggressive push to cut some $2 billion in costs and restructure the airline over three years kicked off in early 2014, with thousands of jobs axed and dozens of aircraft sold or orders deferred.
Qantas said it has since hit $1.66 billion in cost and revenue savings – including $557 million in the financial year ending June 2016. The carrier said it expected to reach $2.1 billion in cost and revenue savings by June next year.
Qantas shares closed 0.87 percent lower at $3.40 on Tuesday.
