Qantas group CEO Alan Joyce has told the full year financial results conference that there has been no takeover bid of any nature either formal or informal made to the company.

He said the media reports that such a bid was being prepared was being regarded by the company as unsubstantiated  speculation.

Joyce and Qantas chief financial officer, Gareth Evans, also dismissed allegations that Qantas was understating the financial performance of its full service international brand to promote an agenda of supporting the expansion of its low cost Jetstar franchise, and that its claims that international Qantas has lost more than $200 million in the last financial year were untrue.

Joyce compared these conspiracy theories to those that claimed there was no moon landing, that ‘Elvis is alive and in Manly’, and that there were UFOs in Area 51 (!) at Roswell.

Evans said the airline’s practice of user pays within the group meant that Jetstar paid for its costs, and Qantas paid for its costs, and that this process had been validated in the auditing of its figures.

In answer to questions Joyce said he wasn’t surprised by speculation about a private equity bid for Qantas because he knew that the current low share price didn’t reflect the value within the group.