Australia’s largest airline Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) shares are trading lower after the price of Brent crude increased to a high of $US128.5 during afternoon trade on Monday (7 March 2022).
The company’s shares were 7.2% down to AU$4.57 at the time of writing this article.
According to the Automobile club AAA, gasoline prices in the United States have also risen 11% in the last week to their highest level since late July 2008, as global sanctions have hampered Russia's capacity to export crude oil following its invasion of Ukraine.
The average price of standard grade gasoline in the US was US$4.009 per gallon on Sunday, up 11% from US$3.604 a week ago and 45% from US$2.760 a year ago.
Qantas’ business update
Xero, a cloud accounting platform, and Qantas Business Rewards, an airline loyalty programme, have partnered to allow their joint users to earn Qantas points when purchasing select add-ons from the Xero App Store, as well as ease their bookkeeping when booking Qantas tickets.
For Xero clients, Qantas Business Rewards is waiving the US$89.50 sign-up cost.
ServiceM8, ApprovalMax, Chaser, Syft, EzzyBills, Finlert, and Deputy are among the first add-on suppliers to offer Qantas points through Xero's App Store. However, more providers are expected to join the initiative in the coming months.
After 90 days of being connected to the necessary apps, Xero clients who are also Qantas Business Rewards members can earn between 7,000 and 21,000 Qantas points.
Commenting on the development, Xero Australia and Asia managing director Joseph Lyons said:
Qantas’ shares performance
Today's share price of Qantas is the lowest in over a month. The company recorded negative growth of almost 9% in its 52-weeks share price. The ASX 200 Index was also 1.09% down at 7,033 at the time of writing this article.
A look at Qantas’ 1HFY22 performance
Last month (on 24 February 2022), the company also announced its results for the first half of the financial year 2022. It informed that the group's total flying was reduced to 18% of pre-COVIDlevels during the half due to widespread domestic lockdowns and continued international restrictions.
Qantas reported an underlying EBITDA of AU$245 million for the first half of FY22 due to depressed market conditions and ramp-up costs. This was AU$331 million in the first half of FY21. Its revenue losses increased to over AU$22 billion since the start of the pandemic.
Qantas had a net debt of AU$5.5 billion, putting it within the group’s target range.
Bottom Line
Coming back to the Qantas-Xero deal, Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth said that the Qantas Business Rewards programme aims to assist members in improving their business while also rewarding them. Thanks to our collaboration with Xero, we're giving company owners new methods to boost their points balances when they use business apps from the Xero App Store.
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