SYDNEY, May 4 (Reuters) - Qantas Airways Ltd QAN.AX , Australia's No. 1 airline, said it expected to post a full-year underlying profit before tax slightly ahead of analysts' estimates after domestic market conditions improved and challenging conditions in the international market moderated.
The forecast full-year underlying pretax profit of A$1.35 billion to A$1.4 billion ($1.00 billion to $1.04 billion) for the financial year ending June 30 would be the second highest in the airline's history.
That is above the average estimate of A$1.34 billion of eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Qantas had not previously released full-year profit guidance. The full-year guidance would represent a fall of 8.5 percent to 12 percent from last year's record A$1.53 billion underlying profit before tax. ($1 = 1.3493 Australian dollars)