Ventia Services Group (VNT) H1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• NPATA grew 11.9% year-on-year to AUD 119.4 million, with a 3-year CAGR of 11.9%, and work in hand reached AUD 20.6 billion, up 19.4%, supporting future growth.

• Revenue declined 1.5% to AUD 3,037.2 million, mainly due to lower Defence and Social Infrastructure volumes and timing in Transport.

• Statutory profit after tax rose 32.6% to AUD 134.5 million, driven by a AUD 24.9 million one-off gain from the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing (TSRC) contract novation.

• Major contract wins totaled AUD 4.3 billion, including significant nbn and Transgrid contracts, and $3.2 billion of new nbn work secured in the past 6 months.

• Dividend per share increased 14.5% to AUD 0.1071, with a 75% payout ratio and 90% franking; share buyback target raised to AUD 150 million, with AUD 82.5 million completed.

Financial highlights

• EBITDA margin improved to 8.3%, up 0.3 percentage points year-on-year; statutory EBITDA grew 12.9% to AUD 277.5 million, underlying EBITDA up 2.8% to AUD 252.6 million.

• NPATA up 11.9% year-on-year, and up 40% since HY 2022; basic EPS increased 16.5% to 13.81cps, aided by the buyback.

• Net CapEx was AUD 41 million (1.4% of revenue), mainly for digital and asset investments.

• Net debt at AUD 576.9 million, 1.1x EBITDA, with liquidity of AUD 724.4 million as of 30 June 2025.

• Interim dividend payout at 75% of NPATA, 90% franked.

Outlook and guidance

• Upgraded full year 2025 NPATA growth guidance to 10%-12% over FY24, excluding the TSRC novation.

• Work in hand expected to exceed AUD 21 billion, with strong cash generation and margin improvement anticipated in the second half.

• Market forecast to grow at 4.7% CAGR to AUD 104.4 billion by 2029, with strong tailwinds from government, energy transition, digitization, and population growth.

• Dividend payout policy of 60-80% of NPATA, with a target of 75%.

• On-market buyback target increased to AUD 150 million for completion in 2025.