APE -5.08%: Put together a decent1H26 result, the stock traded up initially before giving it back in line with the broader market move. Revenue and underlying operating profit were comfortably ahead of expectations as the acquisition of CanadaOne Auto added scale and the existing Australian and New Zealand operations continued to grow.
Key results:
- Revenue of A$8.05bn, up 24% and ~4% ahead of A$7.76bn expected.
- Underlying operating profit before tax (PBT) from continuing operations of A$250.4m, up 27% and ~10% ahead of A$228m expected.
- Net profit (NPAT) of A$126.6m, below A$137.5m expected.
- Interim dividend increased to 25cps, from 24cps.
- CanadaOne contributed around A$1bn of revenue despite being included for only two months.
- Australian and New Zealand revenue grew 8% on 1H25.
The setup into 2H looks constructive, with CanadaOne contributing for the full six months and easyauto123 continuing to scale. Growth isn’t purely acquisition-driven, with the Australian and New Zealand business still producing a healthy 8% uplift. Management continues to look for further opportunities across both Australia and North America, suggesting CanadaOne is unlikely to be the end of APE’s international expansion.
MM’s view: APE is doing what we want an acquisitive business to do — buying growth without allowing the core operation to go backwards. CanadaOne immediately changes the scale of the group, yet the 8% growth from Australia and New Zealand shows there’s still decent momentum underneath it. CanadaOne needs to extract the benefits of scale and proving North America can generate attractive returns rather than simply more revenue. On today’s numbers, APE has made a good start.
MM remains cautiously bullish toward APE
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