DHAKA: Lower oil prices have helped Qantas post a record underlying pre-tax profit of $921m Australian dollars ($665m) for the six months to December.

The result is the best first-half profit in the Australian airline’s 95-year history, reports the BBC.

It was $554m higher than the same period in 2014 - an increase of 151%.

However, Qantas fell 5% in morning trading in Sydney despite announcing an A$500m share buyback.

The buyback is aimed at pushing up the value of its shares and shoring up investor sentiment.

Evan Lucas, an IG Markets analyst, said the slide on Tuesday was partly due to a near-7% rise in oil prices overnight.

‘Qantas has forecast lower costs in the future due to lower oil prices globally, so the oil price rise overnight is impacting shares today,’ he said.

Airline expert Ellis Taylor from Flightglobal said Tuesday’s numbers were ‘a very strong result for Qantas’, but that investors were likely to expect more capital returns through dividends rather than share buybacks.

BDST: 1237 HRS, FEB 23, 2016
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