FCF of $61.8m drove deleveraging to 3.6x and a 12.0c dividend

Revenue grew 48.1% to $130.7m and EBITDA grew 51.7% to $87.2m as continuing operations annualised under the new business model and jet fuel demand continued to recover. PBT rose 47.6% to $34.1m, while reported NPAT rose 100.8% to $24.1m because the effective tax rate fell to 19.0% from 28.3%. Operating cash flow swung to a $36.7m inflow from a $14.1m outflow. Gross borrowings rose 23.5% to $320.6m, so the leverage ratio improved on faster EBITDA growth rather than debt reduction. A $3.6m loss from the discontinued operation continued to drag on NPAT.

The cleaner operating read is PBT growth of 47.6%, not NPAT growth of 100.8%. The 53.2 percentage-point gap between those two numbers reflects a 9.3 percentage-point drop in the effective tax rate, not underlying earnings power. This matters because valuation multiples anchored on reported NPAT will overstate the run-rate improvement unless the lower tax rate is sustainable, which the release does not explain.

The 12.0c full-year dividend (including a 1.5c special) was 187.5% of FY23 NPAT and is being funded out of free cash flow rather than reported earnings. That coverage depends on the gap between EBITDA and net cash capex, which remained heavy at 48.2% of revenue while the jet storage project was being completed. The dividend looks supportable while non-maintenance capex unwinds, but the payout policy is not sustainable at current NPAT if capex stays elevated and debt cannot keep absorbing the gap.

Leverage improvement to 3.6x net debt/EBITDA came almost entirely from EBITDA growth; gross borrowings rose $61.0m over the year. This matters because the balance-sheet flexibility narrative is contingent on the new EBITDA base proving durable rather than on actual debt repayment.

Management did flag that the FY23 result landed at the top end of August guidance and that throughput tracked slightly ahead of Envisory's fuel demand outlook, with jet fuel still recovering toward pre-COVID levels.

The half-year shape was unusually even: HY23 carried 49.3% of full-year revenue, 50.0% of EBITDA and 47.5% of NPAT. There is therefore no seasonal kicker built into the H2 result that would not repeat, which means FY24 has to lean on demand growth and capex moderation rather than a phasing tailwind. The completion of the 100 million litre private jet storage project is the most concrete forward catalyst flagged in the release.

The EBITDA and PBT step-ups are durable in that they reflect a full year of import-terminal economics rather than one-off items, and the dominant Infrastructure segment posted a 67% disclosed gross margin. However, current OCF/EBITDA conversion of 42.1% is lighter than typical for an infrastructure business, and the swing from a prior-period operating cash outflow is partly a working-capital normalisation rather than a clean earnings translation: trade debtors fell to 17.8m from 19.0m and receivable days dropped from 78.6 to 49.7, with the prior figure itself distorted by the business-model transition.

Free cash flow at 256.8% of NPAT exists primarily because depreciation is large and there was no major working-capital outflow this year. That ratio will compress as the capex programme rolls forward into a steady-state mix. The 9.3 percentage-point fall in the effective tax rate also lifted reported NPAT without an obvious recurring driver in the release, so the doubling of headline profit should be treated as partly tax-assisted rather than fully operating-driven.

This briefing cannot assess whether the FY23 throughput, EBITDA margin and tax rate represent a stable run-rate without management's FY24 guidance and a clearer view of post-project capex intensity.