Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) has released its half-year results today, and with them, it announced another fully franked dividend for shareholders.
Let's break down what was declared, how it compares to prior payouts, key dates to remember, and what it could mean for income investors.
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Qantas reports profit growth
Qantas delivered an underlying profit before tax of $1.46 billion, up 5.1% or $71 million on the prior corresponding period.
Underlying earnings per share increased 7% to 68 cents. Statutory profit after tax came in at $925 million.
Management advised that it continues to benefit from strong domestic travel demand, improved on-time performance, growing loyalty earnings, and the ongoing fleet renewal program.
The Qantas dividend
In light of its strong profits, the board approved a fully franked interim dividend totalling $300 million for the half, which equates to 19.8 cents per share.
While this is a decline on what was paid a year ago, it is important to note that last year's interim dividend and final dividend included special dividends of 9.9 cents each.
Excluding those special dividends, the comparable base dividends were 16.5 cents per share each. On that basis, the latest 19.8 cent dividend represents a sizeable increase of 20% over the prior corresponding period.
But the capital returns did not stop there. In addition to the dividend, Qantas announced a further on-market share buyback of up to $150 million. This takes total shareholder returns for the half to $450 million.
When will it be paid?
The interim dividend will be paid to eligible shareholders on 15 April.
Qantas shares will trade ex-dividend before then on 11 March. The ex-dividend date is the cut-off day after which new buyers are no longer entitled to receive the upcoming dividend.
This means you must own Qantas shares before they trade ex-dividend to receive this payment.
What does this mean for dividend yield?
The Qantas share price ended today's session at $9.67.
Based on the interim dividend of 19.8 cents per share alone, this implies a half-year dividend yield of approximately 2%.
If Qantas were to pay a matching 19.8 cent final dividend with its full-year results, consistent with last year's base dividend structure, total FY 2026 dividends would come to 39.6 cents per share.
At a $9.75 share price, that would represent a forward fully franked dividend yield of almost 4.1%.
