Qantas Regains Investment Grade as Balance Sheet Improves
- Turnaround plan produced best results in 7 years in August
- Agency had cut Australian national carrier to junk in 2013
The Qantas Airways Ltd. logo is displayed on the tails of aircraft at the domestic terminal of Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Qantas Airways is scheduled to announce half-year earnings on Thursday, Feb. 21.
Photographer: Ian Waldie/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Qantas Airways Ltd. regained its investment-grade credit rating for the first time in two years, following a profit turnaround buoyed by lower fuel prices and job cuts.
Standard & Poor’s upgraded the Australian airline’s score one notch to BBB-, citing a strengthened balance sheet. The ratings company said Qantas’s finances were “more formal, forward-looking, and preemptive.”