Australia's Qantas posts sharply higher profits

SYDNEY (AP) — Qantas Airways Ltd. says its half-year profit more than doubled after losses slowed in its long-suffering international division and it pocketed cash from delays in the delivery of Boeing's troubled 787 Dreamliner jets.

The airline said Thursday that net profit for the six months to Dec. 31 was 111 million Australian dollars ($114 million). That's up 164 percent from AU$42 million in the same period a year ago.

Qantas partly credited the positive result to an AU$125 million payment it received from U.S.-based Boeing for delays in the delivery of its 787 Dreamliners.

The airline's struggling international division posted a loss of AU$91 million. That's a 65 percent improvement over its loss in the same period last year.