KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) yesterday declared a 32 per cent jump in group pre-tax profit for the six months to June 30 and said it was forming pacts with other global carriers to ride out a rough year.

It would begin code-sharing agreements with airlines in the United States, Britain, Europe and Australia to enable passengers to use tickets on other airlines, said MAS chairman Zain Azraai. MAS achieved a group pre-tax profit of M$157.9 million (about HK$492 million) from M$119.6 million previously.