Ampol Limited

For 2025, Ampol reported RCOP EBITDA of $1.44 billion, up 20%; RCOP EBIT of $947 million, up 32%; and RCOP NPAT before significant items of $429 million, up 83%. Convenience Retail EBIT was $374 million, up 4.8%; F&I EBIT was $406 million, more than double prior year; and New Zealand EBIT was $234 million, broadly in line with the prior year. Statutory NPAT was $82 million, after $136 million of inventory losses after tax and $210 million of significant items after tax, including a $90 million noncash SEAOIL impairment. The Board declared a final dividend of $0.60 per share fully franked, bringing total 2025 dividends to $1.00 per share fully franked, versus $0.65 per share paid last year. For 2026, management expects net CapEx of around $600 million, with further investment in safety, reliability, retail growth, the refinery turnaround, and completion of the low sulfur fuel upgrade.

Matt Halliday framed the year as evidence that Ampol is building a higher-quality, more resilient earnings base through convenience retail, refining reliability, and integrated supply chain execution. He emphasized the three strategic pillars: enhancing the core business, expanding the fuels and convenience platform, and evolving the offer with customer needs, while noting that the company delivered its $50 million nominal cost reduction target in 2025. His tone was confident and constructive, especially around U-GO, EG Australia, and the expectation that lower capital intensity should follow once major projects roll off in 2026.

Greg Barnes said the year was shaped by broad-based earnings growth, but also by higher working capital needs, longer supply chains, and a period of elevated CapEx. He highlighted net borrowings of just over $2.9 billion, $563 million of net CapEx in 2025, $175 million of divestment inflows, and about $100 million of working capital added by the second phase of MSO obligations. He also said a normal year would be around $450 million of CapEx, implying the current period is elevated mainly by highway site investments and the low sulfur fuels project, which he expects to finish in 2026.

Analysts focused on U-GO economics, volume leakage, leverage, CapEx intensity, refining margins, and the SEAOIL impairment. Management said U-GO uplift is measured on a site-by-site pre/post basis after the ramp-up period, with the $350,000 uplift annualized once mature, and that the model is not intended to drag down market prices but to compete effectively in the second-tier segment. On volumes, Ampol said the decline was driven by portfolio repositioning and retail-linked channels, while B2B volumes grew 3.2% in Q4 and were carrying momentum into 2026. On SEAOIL, management said the impairment reflected lower growth assumptions and market changes, not a deterioration in current performance.