Virgin Australia says business uptick brightens outlook

Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd said on Thursday its outlook had brightened thanks to a surge in business confidence which drove a return in corporate traffic, as it reported a smaller annual net loss after a year of cost-cutting. In positive signs not only for Virgin but also Qantas, Virgin Australia CE John Borghetti said the corporate market had improved in Q4 and had maintained the momentum in the current quarter. "Business confidence seems to be running ahead of consumer confidence. That kind of translates to what we’ve seen in the last quarter or so. Business travel seems to have picked up more than leisure travel," he said. The statutory net loss after tax for the year to June 30 was A$185.8m, compared with a net loss of A$224.7m a year ago. Borghetti said the airline, partly owned by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, was ahead of schedule on its cost-cutting program and was increasing its targeted savings by A$50m to A$350m a year. In a separate statement, Virgin said it had received authorization from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for its alliance with HNA Aviation, Hong Kong Airlines and HK Express for a five-year term.<br/>