Qantas has reported a financial year 2022 underlying pre-tax loss of $1.86 billion and a statutory pre-tax loss of $1.19 billion, with the difference reflecting a $686 million gain on the sale of surplus land.
On Thursday (August 25, 2022), Qantas Group reported their fiscal full year 2022 financial results for the period ending June 30, 2022. The Group reported a FY2022 underlying pre-tax loss of $1.86 billion, and a statutory pre-tax loss of $1.19 billion, with the difference reflection a $686 million gain on the sale of surplus land. The company’s net debt declined from a high of $6.4 billion to $3.94 billion at the end of FY22 and Qantas’ recovery plan is on track to achieve $1.0 billion in annual savings in FY23. During the financial year, Qantas invested over $400 million in customer loyalty and experience, new lounges and new routes. For FY22, the Group’s overall flying levels averaged 33 percent of pre-pandemic levels, but finished at approximately 68 percent.
In Thursday’s announcment, Qantas Group’s CEO, Alan Joyce, said,
“This result takes the Statutory Loss Before Tax impact of COVID on the Qantas Group to nearly $7 billion and our total revenue losses to $25 billion. These figures are staggering and getting through to the other side has obviously been tough. The past year has been challenging for everyone. We had to ramp down almost all flying once Delta hit and stay that way for several months before ramping back up through multiple Omicron waves as we all learned to live with COVID in the community.
“We always knew travel demand would recover strongly but the speed and scale of that recovery has been exceptional. Our teams have done an amazing job through the restart and our customers have been extremely patient as the whole industry has dealt with sick leave and labour shortages in the past few months. Safety remains number one, but our service isn’t at the level expected of the national carrier. There is a lot of work happening to bring us back to our best, including hiring more people, rolling out new technology and reducing domestic flying so we have more sick leave cover.
“We saw a big improvement in baggage handling and cancellations in August, which we expect will return to pre-COVID standards next month. On time performance also improved significantly and should be close to our usual high standard in September. We’re even more confident in the future than we were six months ago, so today we’re announcing more investment in our people and our customers, including a major boost to staff travel benefits, new routes and new lounges. We’re also announcing the first capital return for shareholders since they provided us $1.4 billion at the start of the pandemic to support our Recovery Plan.”
Total Group domestic flying averaged 63 percent of pre-pandemic levels during the financial year, but reached 103 percent by June 30, 2022. Across both Qantas and Jetstar, leisure booking revenue was approximately 125 percent of pre-COVID levels, with the leisure rebound resulting in the launch of 20 new domestic routes during the year. During the fourth quarter of FY22, Business revenue rebounded to approximately 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
Losses from the Group International passenger business were substantially offset by a record performance by Qantas Freight. Overall, Qantas International and Freight reports an underlying EBIT loss of ($238) million and an underlying EBITDA profit of $448 million. The Group’s international capacity for the year averaged only 17 percent of pre-pandemic levels for the year, but recovered to 49 percent by June 30, 2022. Qantas and Jetstar have now resumed service to 19 international destinations, and have announced eight new destinations including Rome, Seoul and Delhi. Qantas Loyalty’s revenue increased year-over-year by 36 percent to $1.33 billion, with the division delivering a 7.0 percent improvement in underlying EBIT across the year, and increasing to double digits during H2 FY22.
With the exception of some Airbus A380s, all Qantas and Jetstar aircraft based in Australia and New Zealand have returned to flying. Five A380s with updated interiors have now returned to service, with the remaining five to follow by December 2023. In July, Jetstar took delivery of their first Airbus A321LR, which is 15 percent more fuel efficient than the airline’s current A320s. Over the next decade, nearly 300 next-generation narrowbody aircraft will be arriving across the Group, improving emissions, noise, customer experience and route economics.
Qantas Domestic is also preparing entry into service for the Airbus A220 and A321XLR, while Qantas International is preparing for the entry into service of the Airbus A350. Qantas International will also receive three remaining Boeing 787-900s on order by the end of FY23. Additionally, Qantas Freight will receive two converted Airbus A330s during H2 2023 and six A321F Freighters from early 2024 onwards, replacing the carrier’s aging Boeing 737-400F Freighters.
Source: Qantas