This morning Qantas announced an Underlying Loss Before Tax of $646 million

This morning Qantas announced an Underlying Loss Before Tax of $646 million. The consensus analyst forecast in Bloomberg's survey was for a net loss of around $786 million, making the airline's miss one of the worst this reporting season. Alan Joyce said, This underlying result reflects: The cumulative effect of two years of market capacity growth outstripping demand. A record high fuel cost of $4.5 billion, up $253 million on the prior year, and weaker demand due to an environment of lower consumer confidence, with reduced activity by business, particularly the mining and government sectors... I foreshadowed today's result at our half year announcement in February, declaring it was unacceptable. There's no doubt that today's numbers are confronting. But they represent the year that is past, and we have now come through the worst. The result is likely to catch a few by surprise. Here is the release: (VIEW LINK)