Oil boon for Qantas

Oil price volatility may have piled pressure on Santos and Origin but for Qantas the slide has provided a boon.

While investors are in thrall to CEO’s Alan Joyce’s resilient stance on cost-cutting, it’s unlikely the airline’s recent profit surge would have been quite so rosy without lower fuel costs.

Many opportunists are shorting the balance sheet-challenged oil players and going long on Qantas. UBS added to the upbeat mood surrounding the airline yesterday by reiterating its buy call, forecasting $2 billion of shareholder payments across FY16 and FY17.