A pair of Qantas A380’s is pictured at London Heathrow in October 2012. Photo: Ed Jones – OPShots Contributor //
SYDNEY—Qantas Airways Ltd. QAN.AU +2.79% said its first-half profit more than doubled, as compensation payments from Boeing Co. BA +0.17% for late plane deliveries masked an otherwise weak operating performance.
Even so, investors took heart from a sharp narrowing in losses at the company’s international unit as an aggressive turnaround strategy that has led the Australian carrier to lay off thousands of workers, shed poorly-performing routes and expand into fast-growing markets in Asia showed signs of paying off.
Qantas shares rallied as much as 6% in Sydney Thursday after the company said net profit for the six months to Dec. 31 rose to 111 million Australian dollars (US$113.9 million) from A$42 million a year earlier. The result was buoyed by A$125 million in compensation payments from Boeing over the late delivery of its glitch-plagued 787 Dreamliner jet, and a A$30 million profit from the sale of a stake in road freight business StarTrack.
