Aug 23 (Reuters) - Air New Zealand Ltd AIR.NZ said on Thursday that its annual profit before tax rose 2.5 percent, slightly above expectations, boosted by strength in the domestic market and robust tourism.
The national carrier reported a pretax profit, the most closely watched measure of its performance, of NZ$540 million ($358.34 million) for the year to June 30, compared with NZ$527 million a year ago.
That narrowly beat average forecasts for a NZ$539 million pre-tax profit according to 6 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company declared a final dividend of NZ$0.11 a share, in line with the payout last year.
($1 = 1.5069 New Zealand dollars)