12 Aug 2010

Qantas profit down again

11:47 am on 12 August 2010

Australia's largest airline, Qantas, has posted another fall in profit despite extensive cost-cutting.

No dividend will be paid to shareholders.

The ABC reports the company's statutory profit slid 5% compared to last financial year to $A112 million.

The slide in profit was largely driven by a slump in revenue of $A780 million (5.4%) over the financial year to $A13.8 billion.

The main factor insulating the airline from a bigger loss was a reduction in costs, which were down 4.3%, excluding fuel costs.

This included a fall in personnel costs from around $A3.7 billion to $A3.4 billion.

Underlying profit before tax was $A377 million.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says the result is better than most of the airline's global competitors.