Ampol shares edge up as CEO expects ongoing refining margin volatility
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More news: Ampol shares edged higher after the fuel supplier reported a statutory loss for the six months to June and cut its interim dividend by a third.
Shares were up 0.3% to $29.23 at 1:20pm AEST, having retreated 8.9% over the last 12 months.
Ampol's managing director and CEO Matt Halliday told Capital Brief that he expects to see continued volatility in refining margins during the second half of the year, after first-half earnings from the company's Lytton refinery tumbled 99% year on year to $1.1 million.
"Refiner margins are notoriously tough to predict, so I won't," he said. "We have more recently seen a stronger environment for both diesel and gasoline, but our core expectation is we're going to continue to see volatility in refining margins."
Halliday also said that Ampol's interim dividend of 40 cents per share, down from 60 cents in the previous corresponding period, reflected "cyclical weakness in earnings, principally through refining over the past 12 months".
He noted that the half-year payout remained within Ampol's target range of 50% to 70% of net profit after tax, excluding significant items.
Ampol swings to first-half loss and slashes dividend as revenue dives 16%
The news: Fuel refiner and retailer Ampol has swung to a first-half net loss of $25.3 million as chief executive Matt Halliday flagged "ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and associated global demand concerns" during the period.
The numbers: The result was down from a net profit of $235.2 million in the prior corresponding period, and missed consensus estimates of $323.5 million, according to Visible Alpha data. Net profit excluding significant items fell 23% year on year to $180.2 million.
Total revenue for the period came in at $15.3 billion, 16.2% lower than the $18.2 billion reported in the first half of 2024. This was also behind market forecasts of $16.11 billion.
The company declared an interim dividend of 40 cents per share. Analysts had expected a payout of 50 cents per share, lower than the 60 cents per share declared in the previous corresponding period.
The context: Ampol — which saw its shares jump 7.7% on Friday after announcing the $1.1 billion buyout of EG Group Australia — said fuel volumes were down 4.6% during the first half, compared to an industry decline of around 3%.
The company said the industry was impacted by a number of factors, including Cyclone Alfred and the alignment of Easter and ANZAC day impacting traffic flows.
The source: ASX
