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A2 Milk has outlined a renewed focus on building back its pandemic-battered Chinese daigou community while announcing a share buyback of up to $NZ150 million ($133.6 million).

The milk and infant formula maker swung back to profit in the 2022 financial year, with revenue up 19.8 per cent to nearly $NZ1.5 billion and net profit after tax rose 42.3 per cent to $NZ114.7 million.

A2 Milk’s share price jumped nearly 10 per cent higher on the back of the latest numbers to close on $5.40.

While revenue from its overall Asia segment rose 24.5 per cent, its daigou channel revenue slid by 17 per cent in the 2022 financial year, following a 42 per cent slide in 2021. Daigous are shoppers who buy and export premium goods to customers in China for a profit.

But the New Zealand-headquartered company is now refocusing on regrowing the daigou channel, which chairman David Hearn previously said was “never going to be quite the channel it once was”, and has ramped up its marketing content and sales events in efforts to regain market share.

A2 Milk CEO David Bortolussi said the slowed rate of decline in the daigou channel was proof it was “turning a corner”, and he “absolutely” wanted the lucrative but pandemic-disrupted channel to bounce back to its heyday.

“The daigou channel, through one-to-one word of mouth recommendation, is a really powerful form of new user recruitment and communicating our brand messaging through the market more generally. So it’s a really important and effective channel we want to support,” Bortolussi said on Monday.

A2 Milk has strengthened relationships with Chinese daigou resellers by setting up its own WeChat channel to communicate directly about products, creating sales and brand launches and product innovations. The company’s Platinum infant formula has new packaging and a “slightly new” formulation.

The dual-listed company’s share buyback is slated to start at the end of September and run for 12 months across the ASX and NSX, the New Zealand bourse.

Bortolussi said the buyback came as a result of assessing its net cash balance of $NZ817 million and determining that it had more than enough of a buffer for investment and market volatility and was left with “excess capital”.

“[We have] about $NZ150 million in surplus to our needs at the moment and going forward, we reviewed alternative ways to return that capital to shareholders, and we decided that the most appropriate means at this point in time – and it could be different in the future – is to execute an on-market buyback ... which is a real sign of confidence in our outlook,” he said.

Revenue from its Australia and New Zealand markets slid by 4.8 per cent to $533 million as a “direct consequence” of a restructured sales strategy while US market revenue rose 30 per cent to $83 million.

A2 Milk, which has been pipped by smaller player Bubs Australia in supplying infant formula to the US and had its own application “deferred” by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is still open to the market opportunity, but Bortolussi played down its significance. He said it would have been unlikely to have made a material difference to the company’s outlook.

“It’s a very big market and profitable, but it’s very concentrated and highly competitive ... when you look at others that have entered the category over there, they’ve really struggled to gain any significant share and develop a profitable sustainable business,” Bortolussi said.

The $NZ3.62 billion company stands by ready to support “mostly from a humanitarian basis” to ensure mothers and babies have access to infant formula.

“If we ever get that opportunity in the future, and there’s a commercial opportunity in the longer term, then we’d explore that. It’s not a big deal,” Bortolussi said.

“Even if we had have received FDA approval, I doubt whether that would have changed our outlook. It would be significant to our US business, but not to the a2 Milk company overall.”

The company will be forced to raise prices on its products amid significant increases in global dairy commodity prices, as well as cost pressure across the supply chain, including logistics, freight warehousing and employee costs.

Citi analysts, which have a neutral rating on A2 Milk, said the company’s net profits overshot expectations by 7 per cent, driven by “better-than-expected” performance in China.

Milklab manufacturer Noumi is pinning its hopes on the continued growth of its prized brand to turn around a balance sheet battered by an expensive dispute settlement, high dairy prices, Russia-triggered geopolitical instability, and COVID-19 disruption.

Noumi (formerly Freedom Foods), which also makes other beverage and milk-powder brands including Australia’s Own, Vital Strength and Uprotein, on Monday unveiled profit, revenue, and earnings that all slid backwards in the 2022 financial year.

The company suffered $161.1 million in net losses after tax, deepening from $38.6 million in 2021. Adjusted operating EBITDA and revenue tumbled by 68 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

Noumi’s net losses were driven by its expensive settlement with a former supplier, US almond grower Blue Diamond, which took a $55.6 million bite, as well as a non-cash asset impairment of $95.7 million amid high input costs and rocketing farmgate milk prices, which have been passed on to consumers.

But the popularity of cult favourite Milklab drove a surge in plant-based beverage sales, one of the few bright spots in Noumi’s 2022 results.

Milklab sales rose 18.7 per cent to $49.8 million. More broadly, revenue from its plant-based beverage business was up 7.2 per cent to $164 million and adjusted operating EBITDA jumped 30.3 per cent to $33.4 million.

Noumi chief executive Michael Perich, who stepped into the top job after a spectacular corporate implosion in mid-2020, said he remained committed to the company.

“I’m absolutely excited about the potential within this business,” Perich said, pointing to Australia’s role as a “food bowl” to Asia.“There were some rocky periods that we’ve had to go through,” he said, but his positiveness around returning to “medium to long-term sustainable, profitable growth”, was unwavering.

Perich was eager to point to growth in the plant-based beverages business, but conceded the company was still in the midst of a “bumpy” transformation phase that began after the discovery of $590 million in accounting irregularities, which sent its market cap and share price plummeting.

“We had headwinds in this year that were unforseen around pricing, COVID staffing-related issues. We have really worked hard around mitigating a lot of those,” he said. “There [have] been a lot of external factors that are really unforseen that have driven some of those [impacts on the business].”

The company will focus on growing Milklab’s brand by expanding sales in the South-East Asian market, which accounts for 11 per cent of the company’s revenue. Australia and New Zealand account for most of Noumi’s revenue (70 per cent).

Despite strength from Milklab and Australia’s Own, investors were unimpressed by the company’s overall performance, sending Noumi’s share price down 12.8 per cent to 20.5¢ by the end of Monday’s trading session.

“We’re just focusing on continuing to do what we’re doing,” Perich said.

“We’re aiming at delivering profitability leading to long-term growth in the company; I assume the share price should follow that.”

Noumi shares, currently hovering around 21 cents, are worth less than 10 per cent of their September 2018 peak of $5.30.

Poultry retail franchisor Lenard’s has signed a distribution deal with wholesale warehouse Metcash to supply its chicken products to independent supermarkets nationwide.

“Metcash is such a big supporter of Lenard’s,” said Harry Rumpler, CEO of Lenard’s. “Supermarkets are particularly excited as we have not been available in most of these regions for several years.”

The company has traditionally sold its products through its own store network. The bold move has now seen stockists increase from nearly 100 to several hundred across Victoria, Queensland, and SA, with WA and NSW to follow soon.

With an estimated $16 billion in sales last year, Metcash distributes products to more than 1500 independent supermarkets nationwide, including IGA, Romeo’s Foodland, IGA Ritchies group, and Drake’s Queensland.

The partnership is the first major strategy implemented by Harry Rumpler, who was appointed Lenard’s CEO in July after spending several months as its COO.

“Lenard’s has traditionally been at the forefront of value-added chicken,” added Rumpler. “This will not change as our research and development team constantly looks at opportunities and market trends to excite our customers and keep our range fresh and exciting.”

Lenard’s operates 23 locally-owned stores and its products can also be found in several hundred supermarkets around Australia.

Pizza Hut Australia has introduced a late-night “surcharge” of 10 per cent for orders made after 10pm as it moves to combat inflation in pizza ingredients, chicken wings and fuel and labour costs.

Chief executive Phil Reed said it was part of enabling its franchise operators to manage escalating costs and a labour shortage in a business which had previously had many international students as delivery drivers.

“Historically, we’ve been very reliant on international students,” he said.

The surcharge applies to the whole order value, and doesn’t apply to orders received before 10pm.

Mr Reed said Pizza Hut has been winning market share as it stepped up digitisation of its stores and shifted to a delivery model. Sales July had been an all-time high of $25 million, and the group after the first eight months of calendar 2022 has achieved an overall same-store sales increase of 12 per cent compared with last year.

“A lot of the growth is organic sales,” he said. Pizza Hut, which has 256 outlets, is the No.2 player in the pizza market in Australia behind Domino’s Pizza Enterprises.

Domino’s Pizza last week said there were early signs that price pressures for key ingredients such as wheat and cheese are starting to flatten, but the company will have to lift some product prices to combat inflation.

Rising raw material costs ate into profit for Domino’s, which has extensive operations in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan and Taiwan. Net profit fell 14 per cent to $158.7 million and its underlying net profit fell 12.5 per cent to $165 million for the year ended June 30.

Pizza Hut’s Mr Reed said his group had been selective in passing on price rises on menu items and had done comprehensive research on “price sensitivities” to keep ensuring that good value remained. He said in the past year input costs to franchise operators had risen 4.2 per cent. Long contracts for items such as cheese meant the group had been largely spared from the commodity price jumps in that ingredient.

Pizza Hut already has a 15 per cent surcharge in place for Sunday deliveries because of higher penalty rates.

Pizza Hut generated sales of $247 million in calendar 2021. Mr Reed said the group is aiming to reach between $275 million and $280 million for the 12 months to the end of December 31.

Domino’s chief executive Don Meij said last week his group hadn’t taken a blanket price rise approach across the board. Many menu items had price increases, but there was also a range of “inflation buster” products to reinforce value options to consumers, and to give them choice.

The price of many of what were originally the $5 range of value pizzas had gone up to $8, but Mr Meij said they now had more ingredients and still offered value.

Mr Reed said Pizza Hut had put through a small price increase on “bundle” offers comprising three large pizzas and three side orders which include the options of garlic bread, soft drink and dessert.

That had increased from $36.95 to $37.95. The late-night surcharge of 10 per cent, which was introduced last month, wouldn’t affect families who ordered earlier in the evening.

Mr Reed said the introduction of new menu items such as chicken wings had been very successful. New pasta dishes have also been introduced this week. Pizza Hut is selling about 2.5 million chicken wings a month.

Mr Reed said Pizza Hut is aiming to expand the number of outlets, but a roll-out plan has been curtailed somewhat in the past few months because of rising construction and building costs and a shortage of trades people.

Pizza Hut, which is a sponsor of the 2022 Supercars championship, has stepped up its advertising and marketing over the past year as the business accelerated. It had a one-off global fillip on Wednesday when many obituaries on former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev mentioned his television ad for Pizza Hut in 1998. The clip went viral on the internet in the past 36 hours. Mr Reed posted the clip on his LinkedIn account on Thursday.

Pizza Hut Australia is owned by private equity group Allegro Funds.

Queensland-based Aromas Coffee Roasters has been acquired by local Indigenous-owned company SupplyAus Holdings for an undisclosed sum.

Aromas Coffee Roasters boasts a 47-year history, serving more than 300 locations in the state while SupplyAus was co-founded by Adam Williams, a Wiradjuri man, and Shane Andrews, a descendant of the Mununjali people in 2018.

SupplyAus CEO, Adam Williams, told Business News Australia, that this was a “major step to inspire other Indigenous entrepreneurs to have a go”.

“Buying a legacy brand like Aromas shows Indigenous kids and young people that even the biggest brands are within our reach.”

With the acquisition, the company plans to integrate some of Aromas Coffee’s operations with its own coffee portfolio – Dhuwa Coffee, which is sold in 900 Woolworths stores.

“That’s something we are good at with the rest of our brands, so to be able to roll that through with Aromas is something we are looking forward to.”

Alongside, the company is currently exploring opportunities to invest in indigenous employment with the rollout of its own Aromas Cafe and also grow the brand internationally.

SupplyAus now owns and operates a range of brands including Bunji Workwear, SupplyAus Medical, Jingeri Office National and Aromas Coffee Roasters.

IGA operator Metcash says Australians are keeping up the habit of shopping in their local communities even as pandemic restrictions ease as the company became the latest to report robust consumer spending over the past few months.

The ASX-listed retailer issued a trading update ahead of its annual general meeting on Wednesday revealing that sales are up by 8.9 per cent across its group for the first months of the 2023 financial year.

Food sales are up 4.3 per cent, while Metcash’s hardware sales across the IHG and Total Tools brands surged 19.5 per cent compared with the same time last year.

Liquor sales also jumped by 11.5 per cent as demand bounced back in bricks-and-mortar stores.

Inflation had some impact on the sales numbers, but the company highlighted it was also seeing strong consumer demand in the first months of the year.

Sales were “supported by continued preference for local neighbourhood shopping underpinned by the improved competitiveness of our independent retail networks, and by inflation,” the company outlined in a presentation to investors to be given by chief executive Doug Jones on Wednesday afternoon.

In an address to shareholders, Metcash chairman Peter Birtles said while there are uncertainties about consumer spending on the horizon, it was clear that consumers continued to do more shopping in their local neighbourhoods than they did before the pandemic.

“Importantly, this shift and momentum has continued into the first half of [financial year 2023]... confirming that shoppers are continuing to enjoy the improved competitiveness of our network stores, and the service levels that only independent locals can provide,” he said.

In June, Metcash reported a 2.7 per cent jump in profits to $245.4 million for 2022, with Jones saying the company’s supply chain was robust during a challenging time for product availability.

On Wednesday, the company flagged that despite strong sales momentum it was juggling increased supply chain and labour costs, and had been working closely with suppliers on ways to help shoppers manage the impacts of rising inflation.

Grocery giants Coles and Woolworths called out similar challenges when reporting their full-year financial results. Woolworths boss Brad Banducci flagged that customers were gradually moderating their shopping behaviour by trading up fresh produce for frozen, or choosing more affordable proteins.

Metcash said it wasn’t yet clear if inflationary pressures would change shopping behaviours in the near future.

“A higher rate of inflation has also continued into the first half of [financial year 2023], and there is uncertainty over its level going forward and whether it and other cost of living increases will impact
consumer behaviour in the retail networks of our pillars,” Birtles said.

UBS analysts said Metcash’s update confirmed that cost pressures would be a challenge for the business, but that the company was managing these well.

“We interpret this as cost pressures are a headwind but should not drive [profit] margin compression, which is pleasing and positions Metcash better vs peers (eg Coles and Endeavour Group),” analyst Shaun Cousins said in a note to clients.

Metcash shares opened 0.7 per cent higher at $4.15 and rose 1.3 per cent to $4.17 by early afternoon trade.

Woolworths boss Brad Banducci says Australians are starting to change the way they shop, swapping beef for cheaper proteins like chicken and stocking up on canned goods, after a year of soaring produce prices.

Banducci told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age after delivering the company’s 2022 financial results that the grocery retailer was trying to provide the best prices for customers at a time when fresh produce growers were facing elevated costs.

“We are always trying to get the right balance, do the right thing for the consumer but also recognise when the supplier has significant cost pressure.”

He said the supermarket was passing through price rises where it could but in some cases the company was absorbing the hikes, if “it feels like it’s too much pressure on our customer”.

Beef prices continue to go up and up... there comes a point where you can’t actually pass it on to customers

Woolworths CEO, Brad Banducci

Banducci said that while it was difficult to separate current shopping trends from the impacts of the pandemic, it was clear that cost of living pressures were changing how people shopped.

“We are seeing some customers trade down from beef into more affordable sources of protein and trade across from fresh vegetables into more affordable frozen and canned offerings,” he said.

He highlighted that while it was hard to see the shift on a macro level, more budget-conscious trends were playing out when looking at individual product categories. Trends included shoppers switching up beef mince purchases for chicken or pork mince, or moving from fresh to frozen fish.

The company also flagged with analysts on Thursday that the business was having to face lower margins on beef as prices climbed throughout the year while shoppers’ budgets were squeezed.

“Beef prices continue to go up and up... There comes a point where you can’t actually pass it on to customers,” Banducci said.

The retail giant on Thursday reported a 0.7 per cent rise in net profit from continuing operations for the year ended June 26, making $1.5 billion off the back of $60.8 billion in sales.

Reported net profit surged by 282.5 per cent to $7.9 billion, but this figure reflects the spin-off of drinks business Endeavour Group as its own listed entity last year.

The supermarket giant also gave a trading update for the first eight weeks of the new financial year, showing that food sales are down 0.5 per cent on last year - though those figures are “clouded” by the Delta variant outbreak this time last year.

Discount department store Big W had a strong start to the new year, up 30 per cent on last year as Australians head back to the shops.

Investors will receive a final dividend of 53 cents per share, fully franked, to be paid on September 29, bringing the full-year payout to 92 cents per share, up 1.1 per cent on last year.

Woolworths’ shares fell 4 per cent on the back of the results and closed 3.2 per cent down to $36.20.

Jarden analysts noted that the decline in food sales in the first eight weeks of the new financial year “will likely see some consensus cuts for the [the first half] of 2023.”

Banducci will be attending the Albanese government’s jobs summit next week, and said he wants to discuss modernising the general retail industry award with flexibility in mind.

“It [the award] needs to reflect the reality that a number of our team [members], when they work, want flexibility. Flexibility on when they work, what hours they work, and so on,” he said.

Health supplements company Blackmores has registered strong growth across its brands in all markets despite ongoing supply chain interruptions.

For the year ended June 30, group revenue rose 12.8 per cent to $649.5 million while underlying tax-paid profit improved 22 per cent to $31.1 million. Compared to the prior period, underlying EBIT grew 19 per cent to $56.6 million.

In Australia and New Zealand, revenue rose 2.7 per cent to $288.2 million with BioCeutivcals and Paw brands performing well and resonating strongly in the market.

The company said its sales rebounded in the second half as consumers regained confidence in retail as cold and flu cases surged through the country.

Sales in China rose 10.6 per cent to $145.6 million despite Covid-related lockdowns in several key cities. The company credits its Direct Cross Border E-commerce (CBEC) channels for this growth under “challenging circumstances”.

Blackmores’ international business registered a 31.7 per cent uplift in revenue backed by increased brand awareness, distribution expansion, new product launches and continued on-shelf availability of products.

Group CEO, Alistair Symington, said the business’ medium-term trajectory remains strong despite current macroeconomic conditions.

“Blackmores has remained disciplined and focussed on delivering our strategic objectives which has strengthened our competitive position to meet the current economic challenges and capitalise on the significant growth opportunity in our core markets and set us up for future growth across our business.”

Endeavour Group has marked its first year as a standalone business with a minor increase in profit on static sales, results released today show. 

The former Woolworths Group subsidiary, which owns Dan Murphy’s and 344 hotels and clubs, achieved sales of $11.6 billion and a profit of $495 million, up 2.8 per cent. The result was significant given the disruption to hotel trading due to Covid movement restrictions during the first half, offset in part by increased online sales of liquor to house-bound consumers. It also shows how the group overcame widespread disruption on the eastern seaboard from flooding which saw some of its stores and hotels closed for weeks due to damage. 

On the retail side, Endeavour Group opened a net gain of 32 stores during the year while on the hotel side it completed 40 renewals and acquired five new properties. 

“The investment in our digital connections with customers has been accelerated in recent years given Covid-19 restrictions and we emerged from FY22 with both record sales and record numbers of customer connections,” said Endeavour Group MD and CEO, Steve Donohue. 

He said the company’s fortunes continued to improve during the first seven weeks of the new trading year, as the hotel division recovered further and retail trends “are consistent with a return to normal patterns of trade”. 

Compared to the same period in FY20 – prior to the advent of Covid-19 – retail sales were up 12.7 per cent and hotels by 13.4 per cent. The company warned that sales comparisons to last year are not meaningful given the impact of Covid restrictions in place at the time.

Surging food inflation is tipped to moderate in the second half of this financial year, Coles Group boss Steven Cain says, but shoppers are already paying less for some fresh foods – iceberg lettuce is back on the shelf at $3 a head and other producers are bouncing back from natural disasters.

Also, the chief executive of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises said there were early signs that price pressures associated with key ingredients such as wheat and cheese were starting to flatten out.

The humble iceberg made headlines recently after floods in south-east Queensland reduced supply and prices skyrocketed above $10 a head.

Inflation among food items stocked by Coles supermarkets rose to 4.3 per cent in the June quarter, taking food price inflation to 1.7 per cent for the 2021-22 fiscal year. There were about five times the price increase requests from suppliers than in 2020-21 as businesses battled higher costs from freight to packaging.

While the prices for fresh produce such as strawberries and capsicums are moderating, Mr Cain told The Australian Financial Review he expected more increases on packaged goods, particularly those relying on global commodity markets.

“There tends to be a bit more of a lag in grocery and packaged products because they have longer lead times (for price increases),” he said.

“As long as we don’t get any flooding or bushfires of significance then there is going to be a lot of products coming from farms, which will lead to lower prices, which is good news for everybody.”

Mr Cain’s comments came after he delivered a 2 per cent rise in group sales to $39.74 billion in the year ended June 26, slightly higher than analysts’ consensus forecasts. But huge COVID-19 costs of $240 million – up from $130 million the year before – hurt earnings, which dipped 0.2 per cent to $1.87 billion.

The bottom line of the country’s second-largest supermarket chain still rose 4.3 per cent to $1.05 billion for the year.

Higher food prices are generally good for supermarkets’ sales, but Mr Cain insisted that higher prices do not necessarily flow through to the bottom line since Coles is battling its own cost pressures from wages and rents.

Following multiple interest rate rises, there are some signs Coles shoppers with more constrained budgets are trading down to cheaper items, and Mr Cain noted strong growth in its $1 Coles pasta brand and the $1 coffee at its Coles Express stores “has never been more popular”.

Cycling lockdowns

Coles is seeking to increase its higher-margin home brand and exclusive product range market penetration to 40 per cent from 32 per cent, where there is normally some price deflation.

Mr Cain said while many consumers were spending freely, about 20 per cent of customers is “doing it tough” and would be “really disadvantaged as fixed rate mortgages come off”.

He was wary about the outlook, noting that the first half of fiscal 2022-23 would be cycling lockdowns from a year ago, when sales were booming as people ate at home. Hospitality and restaurants are now as busy as ever, which could curb supermarket volume growth.

The share price fell 4.6 per cent to $17.84 on Wednesday, the lowest close in nearly two months, as investors were unimpressed with the higher capital expenditure plans and softer outlook.

Milford Asset Management portfolio manager Greg Cassidy said rising pressures such as fuel and labour would probably have more of an impact this year, and be compounded by higher costs for the rollout of Coles’ automation projects.

“The share price today reflects this catch up in costs, but also because the stock had performed well into the result as many investors felt Coles was a place to hide given rising inflation and uncertainty,” he said.

Ahead of the Jobs Summit next week, Mr Cain said higher immigration would help offset persistent inflation as Coles was having trouble filling technology, baker and truck driver roles.

“Obviously, there’s inflation around, but there’s no doubt that we’re not maximising the potential of the Australian economy,” Mr Cain said.

“We need more skilled and unskilled people to do all the jobs that need doing at the moment, otherwise it will drive further inflation.”

Sales at Coles supermarkets rose 2.2 per cent to $34.62 billion in 2021-22, with strong e-commerce gains and earnings inching up 0.8 per cent to $1.72 billion. However, same store sales growth was 3.7 per cent in the fourth quarter, softer than some market expectations, implying a slowdown in the last few months of the year.

Better sourcing

Fresh food inflation reached 4.7 per cent in the June quarter, driven by bakery because of higher wheat prices and fresh produce prices stemming from the Queensland and NSW floods, which pummelled vine-grown and soft vegetables such as tomatoes, capsicums and broccoli.

This was partly offset by fruit deflation, particularly in bananas and grapes. Packaged food inflation was 1.6 per cent for the year but rose sharply to 4.3 per cent for the June quarter.

The supermarket’s gross margin gained 42 basis points to 26.3 per cent thanks to better sourcing and benefits from its Smarter Selling program, but this was partially offset by COVID-19 costs that peaked in January.

Chief financial officer Charlie Elias said that with spring around the corner and less staff absenteeism these costs should moderate, helping to boost earnings this year. He also said ​rising food inflation was expected to have a neutral earnings impact.

As part of its online shopping overhaul, Coles is opening four of the largest automated centres in Australia from next year. Higher labour costs, shipping delays and general inflation had contributed to a cost blowout, and capital expenditure guidance was now $1.37 billion, up from $1.09 billion.

Barrenjoey head of consumer research Tom Kierath said the softer outlook and higher capex costs for Witron /Ocado distribution and fulfilment centre projects had taken the gloss off the results.

Sales gained 2.3 per cent to $3.61 billion, while earnings fell 1.2 per cent in the liquor business. Liquorland was the strongest performing banner. Liquor also launched a 100 per cent recyclable eco bottle wine range, reducing carbon emissions and saving energy in production and recycling.

Lower fuel sales because of lockdowns pushed down convenience store sales 5 per cent to $1.11 billion, and earnings tumbled 37.3 per cent, against very strong tobacco sales last year. The Express business should improve this year as more fuel is sold and the public moves around again.

The $23.84 billion company declared a fully franked 30¢-a-share final dividend, up from the year-earlier 28¢, payable on September 28.