The Dixon lie continues...
QANTAS has taken two months to respond to an "urgent" Federal Government request to declare whether the level of foreign shareholding in the airline had breached the 49 per cent cap enforceable under Australian law.
The carrier yesterday announced its level of foreign ownership was 44.5 per cent.
"Foreign shareholding is trending down and we are confident that our share register is in compliance with the Qantas Sale Act," Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said.
But in the biggest hint Qantas had breached the cap before the collapse of the Airline Partners Australia takeover bid in early May, the airline said a previous reconciliation released on May 30 showed foreign ownership was "just below 50 per cent".
But in the May 30 statement Mr Dixon said he "believed" the foreign ownership was below 49 per cent.
A Qantas spokesman declined to say whether "just below 50 per cent" meant it was over 49 per cent. "There's nothing to add to either of those statements," the spokesman said.
Fuelling suspicions Qantas was around 60 per cent foreign owned at the time of the APA bid - when dozens of offshore hedge funds piled into the stock - Qantas has also declined to comment on its levels of ownership before May 30. Qantas's share registry, Link Market Services, declined to say how long it would take to undertake a reconciliation of a company's shareholder base.
Despite having a "media inquiries" phone number listed on its website, a spokesman who answered the phone said Link Market did not comment to the media.
Meanwhile, Qantas shares surged 13c to $5.56 yesterday after releasing strong traffic statistics that appeared to confirm that an ambiguously worded statement put out by the airline last week was indeed a profit upgrade.
The airline reported its overall load factors (seats filled) in May rose 2.1 per cent to 74 per cent on the previous 12 months. Passengers numbers were up 7.7 per cent. Qantas's international division was the strongest performer with loads up 3.4 per cent and yields (average fares) up 8.4 per cent. Aside from Qantas being aided by the strong Australian dollar, which is lowering capital costs and fuelling outbound travel, the rise in yields was further amplified with the price of oil being lower than in the previous May.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services Mark Vaile welcomed the Qantas announcement on ownership.
"I expect Qantas to comply at all times with these requirements," Mr Vaile said. "The Act plays an essential role in ensuring that Qantas remains Australian-based and under Australian control."
"I have asked the chairman [Margaret Jackson] to look at putting in place arrangements that will enable them to monitor the levels of foreign ownership in a more timely manner