Australia's Qantas to buy back shares in show of confidence as demand returns

Qantas Airways said Thursday it would buy back up to A$400m ($276m) of shares after the lifting of COVID curbs spurred a strong rebound in travel demand, boosting its second half performance and lowering debt levels. The rush to travel once borders opened has been so strong that Qantas said it had been forced to trim domestic capacity by a further 10 percentage points since its last update in June due mostly to operational challenges associated with the demand surge. "We always knew travel demand would recover strongly but the speed and scale of that recovery has been exceptional," Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said. The airline posted an annual underlying loss before tax of A$1.86b in the 12 months ended June 30, wider than the A$1.77b restated figure from a year earlier and slightly bigger than analyst forecasts. The bulk of the losses were reported in the first half when domestic and international borders were closed under strict measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our debt is now below our target range – so in addition to the investments we're making in customers and our people, we're in a position to start repaying shareholders," Joyce said of the surprise on-market buyback. Investors had provided A$1.4b in equity during the pandemic to help shore up the airline's balance sheet.<br/>