Qantas Airways Ltd. released its first half results of fiscal 2009-10 today and the company posted a 72% decline in its net profit for the period. This is reportedly the lowest first half profit for the top carrier of Australia by traffic. The weak results were reported in the first half due to a drop in demand, according to the company.

For the first six month of the fiscal, the airline company posted a net profit of A$58 million, while in the same period last fiscal the company posted a net profit of A$210. The profit in the period missed the estimates of the analysts who were expecting a net profit of A$68 million for the first half.

Though, the company remained profitable in the first half as the underlying profit before tax was reported A$267 million and the profit before tax was posted A$90 million for the period. The sales and other income were reported decreased as they were posted A$6.91 billion for the first six months of the fiscal, comparing with A$8.07 billion which were posted in the same period last year.

The company also provided the guidance for the full year. Qantas expects its underlying profits to be slow in the second half of the year as the fuel costs are increasing and also due to the higher depreciation costs. The company sees a full year underlying profit before tax of between $300-400 million.