Shares in Qantas took a dive today down 9.2% after the airline delivered a fairly flat statutory result. Net profit for the six months to December came in below expectations at $923 million up just 0.2% or two million dollars from the same period last year. Sales rose by 3% while pre-tax earnings per share of 61 cents was below market expectations of closer to 66 cents. Domestic unit posted a 5% rise in revenue while the international division excluding JetStar Asia and JetStar Japan reported a 6% fall. Qantas has announced a share buy-back of up to $150 million and an interim dividend of 19.8 cents per share.
