Ampol has reported the strongest half-year result in its history, swinging to a statutory net profit of $1.36 billion for the six months to 30 June, against a $25.3 million loss in the same period last year. The driver was not the driveway: it was the Lytton refinery and global fuel trading, both supercharged by disruption across Middle East supply routes.
The numbers
Revenue rose to $20.4 billion from $15.2 billion. Underlying earnings, measured as operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (RCOP EBITDA excluding significant items), climbed 152 per cent to $1.64 billion, and underlying net profit came in at $857.2 million, up from $180.2 million. The result comfortably beat market expectations of around $915 million in statutory profit.
Shareholders get the benefit directly. Ampol declared a fully franked interim dividend of $1.85 per share, its largest ever and more than four times last year’s 40 cent interim payout.
Where the profit came from
The Fuels and Infrastructure division delivered earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $1.13 billion, up from $118.3 million a year earlier. Within that, the Lytton refinery in Brisbane earned $533.4 million, up from just $1.1 million, as its refiner margin averaged US$28.26 a barrel across the half against US$7.44 in the prior period. The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, risks around Bab-el-Mandeb, delays to Russian diesel exports and historically low refined product inventories all pushed product prices higher, and Lytton ran at maximum production to capture it, lifting output 8.7 per cent.
The trading and shipping operations rode the same conditions: Australian fuels earnings outside Lytton rose 123 per cent to $309.3 million, and the international business earned $307.5 million against $2.8 million last year.
Conditions have continued into the second half, with the Lytton margin at US$27.11 a barrel in July. The refinery began a scheduled maintenance turnaround on 30 July and is expected to restart during October, taking around 300 million litres out of production.
The retail business
Convenience Retail lifted EBIT 12 per cent to $204.5 million. Fuel volumes rose 2.4 per cent and shop sales, excluding tobacco and sites converted to the U-GO discount format, grew 3.5 per cent. Even in a record result, tobacco remains enough of a drag that Ampol reports around it.
The bigger retail story is the completed acquisition of EG Australia, settled for $1.17 billion at the end of the half. The purchase brings the former Woolworths petrol network into the Ampol fold, and the company expects $65 million to $80 million in annual synergies within two years, flowing into results from 2027. Net borrowings rose to $3.52 billion, partly reflecting the acquisition.
New Zealand was the weak spot, with earnings down 16 per cent as rising wholesale costs took longer to pass through to the pump. The AmpCharge electric vehicle network reached 356 charging bays in Australia, with the Energy Solutions division still loss-making but on track to break even by 2028.
A note for independent operators
The profit was made in refining and trading, not retail, and that distinction matters when the excise and price debates resurface: record results at a major do not mean record margins on the driveway. The more direct consequence for independents is scale. With EG Australia settled, Ampol now controls one of the largest company-operated networks in the country and is expanding its U-GO discount format, so competition from major-branded sites is likely to sharpen rather than ease. The half-year also confirms what many operators already see in their shop numbers: even with a national network, tobacco is going backwards. The response that matters locally is the same as it has always been: know your costs, keep your offer sharp, and compete on the things a head office cannot do from Sydney.
Information current as at 26 August 2026.