Viva Energy Group Limited (VEA) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss our 2026 first half results. With me on the call is Carolyn Pettich, our Chief Financial Officer, Denny Buvasperia, our EGM of Commercial, Jennifer Gray, our Chief Strategy Officer, and Teresa Rendo, our new Retail CEO. On the call, Carolyn and I will share the group results, while Jen and Teresa will provide more commentary on our retail convenience businesses, and then you'll be available to answer any questions around commercial. As foreshadowed in our quarterly trading update, we've delivered a record earnings this half, supported with strong performances in all of our business units. These results reflect a substantially improved refining margin environment driven by events in the Middle East, but also improving retail sales growth and continuing strength of our commercial businesses. The improvements in our underlying business are very encouraging and we expect to be able to continue building on this as we cycle through this extraordinary period. Despite significant volatility, I'm very pleased with the way we've managed the significant inventory and supply exposures and maintained capital discipline throughout the period. The resulting strong cash conversion has strengthened our balance sheet with net debt reducing from $2.1 billion at the end of 2025 to $1.7 billion at the end of June. In recognition of these results, the board has determined an interim fully franked dividend of 7.73 cents per share, representing a 70% payout of CNM and CNI NPAT on a replacement cost basis, which is, of course, at the top end of the company's dividend policy. In line with our policy, the contribution of the ENI business will be assessed at the conclusion of the financial year. That said, we expect the ENI business to conti...