I would now like to hand the conference over to Keith Thornton, CEO. Please go ahead.
Well, thank you for joining us today for our half year 2026 result briefing. I am joined by Sophie Moore, our CFO, and Edward Geschke, our Chief Operating Officer, and together we have the privilege of presenting the company's results. Our results pack, including the slides for the presentation, have been lodged with the ASX and should be visible now via the webcast. Our first half 2026 result reflects another significant milestone in the evolution of Eagers Automotive. During the period, we delivered record earnings, successfully completed the CanadaOne Auto investment, and continued to expand strategic growth platforms across the group. Today's presentation is structured around five components. We will start with our trading highlights, then provide financial, operational, and strategic updates, and finally, we will move to our outlook.
As you move through the presentation, there is one underlying theme I would encourage you to keep in mind, and that is that while this result demonstrates record current performance, what excites us most is the platform we are building. Eagers is becoming a more diversified business with a broader international footprint, and in turn, we are creating a growing range of opportunities capable of creating value for shareholders over the long term. With that, let us begin with an overview of the result and the key takeaways from the first half of 2026. One of the defining characteristics of Eagers Automotive is the ability to grow consistently and materially while maintaining discipline. In our view, growth and returns are not mutually exclusive. Our objective has always been to build a business that can grow sustainably, improve productivity, strengthen margins, and create long-term value for shareholders.
The first half of 2026 is another demonstration of this in action. Our half-year revenue increased by 24%, or approximately AUD 1.6 billion, to a record half year turnover of AUD 8.1 billion. Importantly, even excluding the CanadaOne Auto contribution, like-for-like turnover increased by approximately AUD 500 million, highlighting the continued strength of the underlying business. Underlying return on sales or our net profit margin increased to 3.1% despite ongoing industry transformation and general economic pressure. This reflects the benefits of our scale, our productivity strategy, and the continued execution of our long-term optimization plans. At Eagers, we always take a long-term approach, which is probably not surprising for a 113-year-old company. The chart on the right demonstrates the transformation from approximately AUD 3.8 billion of turnover in 2016 to a pro forma base approaching AUD 19 billion today.
In doing so, creating one of the largest automotive retail platforms globally over this last decade. Importantly, that growth has not come at the expense of shareholder returns. On a pro forma basis, earnings per share will increase by approximately 22% when incorporating a full 12 months of CanadaOne Auto earnings, highlighting both the earnings quality of the acquisition and the value creation potential of the combined platform. The message from this slide is simple. Eagers continue to deliver strong results today while building an even stronger and larger platform for tomorrow. We have demonstrated a proven ability to grow through cycles, and we believe the opportunities ahead of us, both in Australia and internationally, are greater than at any point in our history. Moving now to the financial scorecard.
During the first half of 2026, Eagers delivered record half-year revenue, which pleasingly translated into record half-year underlying operating profit before tax of AUD 250 million. A key highlight is the contribution from Canada. While we have only recognized two months in this result, CanadaOne Auto delivered approximately CAD 1 billion of revenue over the two months and more than CAD 43 million of underlying operating profit before tax, reinforcing our confidence in both the quality of the business, the quality of our partners, and the strategic rationale for the investment. The combination of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada resulted in new vehicle deliveries exceeding 111,000 units for the half, up almost 27% on the prior period. In Australia alone, we increased new vehicle deliveries by 16%, or more than 14,000 units in the half on a like-for-like basis.
Taken collectively, these metrics highlight that we are not just building a larger business. It is stronger, it is more resilient, and it is increasingly more diversified. Before discussing our results any further today, it is important to Eagers, and critical for us to explain what drives Eagers. That is the real story that sits behind the numbers and supports long-term investment in this company. At Eagers, we are adamant that culture is the foundation to all great companies, and it is this culture, built over decades, protected and enhanced every day, that allows the company to deliver. This slide is not a theoretical framework. It is something we consistently demonstrate through our actions. Importantly, our culture is the foundation that is building a strong and sustainable business, which is a safe place to invest. This foundation then enables optimization, which improves returns and in turn drives our growth.
Many organizations pursue growth first.
We have consistently taken the opposite approach. We focus on building a better business first, earning the right to grow, and then scaling from a position of strength. This philosophy has served us exceptionally well over many years. Back in 2019, Eagers Automotive undertook what was arguably the most significant transaction in our company's history. The merger with Automotive Holdings Group transformed Eagers from a strong regional automotive retailer into Australia's leading integrated retail group. It materially increased our scale, it strengthened our capabilities, and it created the platform that has underpinned our growth over the last seven years. We did not simply become larger following that merger, we integrated it successfully, we optimized the business, we improved productivity, we expanded margins, and we have now built one of the strongest operating platforms in the industry.
Moving to our partnership with CanadaOne Auto, which we completed in the first half of 2026, this represents our second significant step change. It establishes greater scale and broader capabilities while also entering a significantly larger addressable market. A Canadian market that is both more fragmented than the Australian market and with more favorable industry economic dynamics. That is a very compelling combination. The first step change with AHG delivered incredible shareholder value. Our second step change with CanadaOne Auto represents the next chapter in that journey. The first test of any acquisition investment is whether the business performs in line with expectations following completion. I am pleased to report that CanadaOne Auto has done exactly that. While these results include only two months of ownership, CanadaOne Auto contributed approximately AUD 1 billion in revenue, AUD 58.8 million of EBITDA, and AUD 43.2 million of underlying profit.
At the same time, our Australia and New Zealand operations continue to perform strongly. Delivering revenue growth of 8%, profit growth of 5%, and maintaining a 3% return on sales despite market conditions. The more interesting question is not what CanadaOne Auto contributed over two months. The real opportunity is understanding what the combined platform looks like over a full year, and why we believe the transaction represents a transformational step in the evolution of Eagers Automotive. Slide nine demonstrates just that. The upper section on this slide represents the last 12 months of Eagers, including 12 months of Eagers actual Australia and New Zealand results, plus the two months contribution from CanadaOne Auto. Almost 20% higher volume, 23% higher PBT, improved margin, and a 7% lift in EPS.
It is the lower section of this slide, however, representing the pro forma basis, that we see the truly transformative outcome this merger will deliver. Revenue increases from AUD 12.2 billion to approximately AUD 19 billion. EBITDA increases to approximately AUD 938 million per annum. PBT increases to approximately AUD 653 million, all with an expected 22% lift in EPS. I will now pass over to our CFO, Sophie Moore, to take us through the financials.
Thank you, Keith.
Today, as Keith said, we released our record financial results for the first half of 2026 financial year. The results included two months of trading from our Canadian partners, CanadaOne, which settled on 30 April. The headline numbers highlighted by Keith demonstrate the growing strength and resilience of our global business. In the six months to 30 June, we delivered strong growth with both record revenue and profit compared to the prior corresponding period. Underlying EBITDA reached a record AUD 364.6 million, with a margin of 4.5%. This remained above the long-term average of 4.1%, demonstrating the benefits of scale, operating leverage, and cost discipline. Slides 36 and 37 in the appendix reconcile statutory underlying EBITDA and profit before tax. Underlying profit before tax was a record AUD 250.4 million. Australia and New Zealand contributed AUD 207.2 million, up AUD 9.5 million or 5% on the prior corresponding period.
As Keith said, CanadaOne contributed a profit for two months of AUD 43.2 million. Return on sales margins remained strong at 3% in Australia and New Zealand and 4.2% in Canada, with both businesses continuing to outperform industry averages. Statutory PBT was AUD 243.1 million, compared with the underlying profit before tax of AUD 254 million.
The differences driven by acquisition, capital raising, and integration costs during the period. Overall, this result demonstrates the benefit of scale, an optimized operating model, and sustained productivity and cost disciplines. Turning to slide 12. Eagers remains in a strong financial position, supported by a substantial property portfolio, a resilient asset base, and significant balance sheet capacity. Our approach to capital management links back to our culture of business sustainability, growing the group's profitability while also strengthening our underlying asset base. We have consistently delivered both, including through 2025, a transformative year for the group.
At 30 June 2026, group corporate debt net of cash was AUD 674.9 million. Long-term debt supports our AUD 1.6 billion property portfolio in strategic locations across both Australia and Canada. On 30 June, the group held AUD 624 million of property equity, reinforcing the strength of our asset base. Total liquidity is supported by AUD 1.9 billion of committed core debt facilities from our Australian syndicate and captive partners, with maturities extending from 2028 to 2044. Undrawn facilities totaled AUD 735 million at 30 June. Additional liquidity was secured in Australia in both 2024 and 2025, reflecting our finance partners' commitments and confidence in the Next100 strategy and our ability to perform through all cycles. CanadaOne has also refinanced its corporate debt facilities with its long-term finance syndicate group in June 2026, providing more than AUD 700 million of undrawn capacity to support growth.
Lastly, I would say we are well-positioned to continue to fund growth opportunities through this disciplined execution and deliberate capital allocation in both Australia and North America. I will hand back to Keith now to cover the operational highlights.
Thank you, Sophie. Looking now at the first half business performance in Australia. When adjusted for the brands that don't report in VFACTS and report via the EV Council, the industry overall grew year to date, and it culminated in an all-time monthly sales record in June of approximately 140,000 new vehicles. Into this record total market, Eagers delivered record market share with 17.9% of the new car market delivered by Eagers, representing an all-time record share for our total new vehicle monthly deliveries and market share. This incredible outcome is a result of anticipating where the industry will go a number of years ago. Positioning the business to win this trend and then executing on this winning position. The biggest story, however, is the changing demand for plug-in vehicles in Australia.
In 2020, new energy vehicles, which represents any vehicle that can be plugged in, whether that's full battery, electric or plug-in hybrid, represented less than 1% of the Australian market. Today, they represent approximately one-quarter of new vehicles sold. Into this, the fastest-growing segment, Eagers continues to deliver more than 30% of all vehicles in Australia. A great example of positioning the business to win the trend. One of the most important principles within Eagers is that growth alone is not enough. For more than a decade, we have followed a very deliberate strategy of earning the right to grow by continuously improving the quality and productivity of our business before pursuing the next phase of expansion. This slide demonstrates the outcome of that discipline. Since 2019, we have materially increased scale across the group.
But importantly, at the same time, we have systematically optimized the operating model via an obsession, an absolute obsession with productivity. We've talked about our productivity obsession relentlessly since 2021. Probably one of the few companies to talk about it at every half year briefing. At Eagers, we don't simply ask teams to work harder. We consolidate operations using scale. We develop and implement technology to assist redesigned work processes. Equally, at Eagers, we don't target cost out. We target waste. In fact, we celebrate proactively identifying any waste in our business because so often waste is linked to inefficient and unproductive activity in a large company. Finally, this is not an ad hoc program run from time to time. It is every day in every way, and ultimately it becomes part of the DNA of the business.
Let's look now at the evidence of this DNA. Since 2019, we have exited more than 100 leases while increasing owned property to more than AUD 900 million in value. We've streamlined our footprint. We've improved processes. We leverage technology, and we are supporting redesigned workflows with greater tech, which all materially increases productivity across the organization. Productivity has increased from approximately AUD 900,000 in sales per team member per annum in 2019 to almost AUD 1.6 million today, an increase of almost 75%, and above our ambition from a few years ago of only AUD 1.5 million sales per person. This is a result of deliberate and ongoing action. As a result, our underlying cost base before interest and depreciation has fallen from 14.2% of revenue in 2019 to a record low of 11.6% today, down from last year's previous record.
The key takeaway from this slide is that growth and optimization are not competing priorities. In fact, they enable and reinforce each other. The larger we become, the more opportunity we have to improve productivity, enhance net margins, and create long-term value for the shareholders. Simply, I've said it before, we are not just building a bigger company. We are building a better company at the same time. The next slide demonstrates clearly how this overall operating model supports net margin outperformance of the industry. Slides 14 and 15 explain how we are winning the trend in a rapidly evolving automotive landscape, and how, in parallel, we've spent more than a decade optimizing our operating model. The outcome of these combined efforts is shown on this slide. Quite simply, Eagers today operates at a level of profitability that is materially ahead of the broader industry.
Our underlying return on sales for the first half was 3%, which compares to an industry average, which includes Eagers, of 0.7% for the first half of 2026. That delta, when you apply it to our turnover, represents about AUD 350 million in incremental net profit before tax that Eagers is generating compared to industry average. It is quite staggering. Moving now to CanadaOne. At the end of April, we completed the second significant step change in Eagers' recent history. Today, we are excited to be able to provide the first update on the performance of CanadaOne following this completion. I wanted to share some interesting metrics to demonstrate the quality of this business and underline the confidence we have in our partners.
We announced this partnership in the second half of 2025, and at the time, the average turnover of the CanadaOne business was CAD 411 million per month. We updated the market at the end of 2025, and the average monthly turnover had increased to CAD 445 million per month. CanadaOne has continued this strong pace of organic growth. With the first two months since completion, turnover is up 7.5% on the same period last year, all organic, all like for like. Furthermore, in May 2026, the business, CanadaOne, set an all-time combined new and used retail car delivery record for the group. Not a bad result for the very first month after the partnership completed. When we announced this transaction, we outlined a clear investment thesis around partnering with high-quality operators, entering an attractive market, and creating a platform for long-term growth.
The first two months are important because they provide early evidence that business is performing exactly as we expected. To be clear, our expectations were very high. It reinforces our conviction that CanadaOne is a growth platform that materially expands the future opportunity for Eagers Automotive. When we announced our partnership with CanadaOne, the attraction was more than simply the business as it stands today. It is the opportunity to establish a leading position in a highly attractive market and create a platform capable of supporting long-term growth across North America. The business today operates 42 locations across five provinces. It retails approximately 48,000 new vehicles per annum and holds a national market share of around 2.5%.
Across Canada and the U.S., the North American new vehicle market represents approximately 18.6 million annual new vehicle sales, making it second only to China globally and more than 15 times the Australian market. This slide does not simply represent 42 dealerships. It demonstrates a proven operating platform with industry best leadership, deep talent, and long-standing OEM relationships accessing one of the largest automotive markets in the world. We remain incredibly positive about the opportunity to expand in this market with further growth opportunities well progressed. Excuse me. Moving on to our strategy update for 2026 half year. This slide brings together two themes we have spoken about through today's presentation. The first is that Eagers, certainly in Australia, operates in a changing market. The second is that disciplined capital allocation is one of our most important competitive advantages.
For many years, we have actively managed our portfolio with a simple objective, deploy capital where we are most confident of returns that can compound over the long term. Let's look at the two thematics that underpin capital allocation in our industry. That is, who do we invest with and into which markets do we invest? It's well understood that the automotive industry is undergoing historic change. We are no longer able to simply base partnerships on cyclical ups and downs within a single OEM brand portfolio. Change and the impact on all OEMs is now structural. The bell curve on the left of slide 21 represents the market impact on the y-axis, while the x-axis shows the market segments from low priced used cars on the left all the way up to super luxury segments on the far right.
You can see via the bell curve, the largest impact sits on the transformation that is undergoing in new car segments up to AUD 120,000 in value, with less impact on the luxury and super luxury segments above AUD 120,000. The used car market on the left-hand side of the bell curve is without doubt the most insulated from the disruption of new OEM entrants and the change in consumer preferences to powertrains. It's worth noting that even within the segment that is most impacted, which is mainstream new car brands, the impacts for each OEM, both established and new, is different. We have simply never faced such a rapidly evolving OEM environment. Looking at geographic market dynamics, and you'll see a compelling metric on the right-hand side of this slide that supports the Canadian market opportunity.
The average revenue generated per new vehicles retailed is circa 30% higher in Canada than Australia. That's a staggering metric. This is driven by higher average transaction values, higher used to new car sales ratio, higher finance and insurance attachment rates, and bigger service and parts businesses on average. All that occurs in a market that is 58% bigger than in Australia. So what this means is that to replicate the current size of the Eagers Australian, New Zealand revenue base, we could achieve that in Canada with just over 7% of the new car market in Canada, which is not an overly ambitious target based on our current 2% market share. These two thematics are critical to understand, and they support several of the investments we anticipate announcing over the next 12 months.
Earlier this year, we announced the formation of our joint venture partnership with Grand Motors Group. This investment represents a 49% strategic interest in the Grand Motors Group, which includes Toyota, BMW, Mini, Mazda, and Kia across 11 locations on the Gold Coast and in Sydney Metro, which are two geographic markets that we are underweight by representation. This group represents approximately AUD 490 million of annual turnover, sells more than 6,000 new vehicles each year, and it settled on the 31st of July 2026. We look forward to growing this business with Greg Scott, the founder of Grand Motors Group, and his dealer partners. We also announced the acquisition of Audi Centre Melbourne and Audi Centre Richmond, which represented a targeted expansion with a brand, Audi, that we are equally underrepresented with. Together, they contribute approximately AUD 140 million of annual turnover and more than 1,100 annual vehicle sales.
This acquisition was made from the Zagame Group, founded, owned, and operated by Bobby Zagame, who is a leading super luxury group in Australia. Slide 24 is an important example of disciplined capital allocation in practice. We have just entered a process to divest our New Zealand franchise automotive operations to the Armstrong Motor Group, led by Rick Armstrong, while retaining and continuing to invest behind our easyauto123 platform in New Zealand. The New Zealand market is undergoing an evolution of how brands are represented, and with the limited size of the new car market, increasing new entrants from China, and the prevalence of gray used car imports, it has dictated an increasingly combined importer/retailer landscape. What this means is that without a strategic shift to our approach in New Zealand, Eagers would become structurally disadvantaged in this marketplace with limited franchise new car growth potential available.
easyauto123 continues to provide a scalable independent used vehicle platform in New Zealand, with attractive long-term growth characteristics and alignment to our broader mobility strategy. One of the themes we have discussed consistently over recent years is the evolution of Eagers from a traditional automotive retailer towards a broader mobility ecosystem. The investment with Karmo announced earlier this year is another important step in that journey. It also complements both our franchised new car automotive network by driving new car vehicle sales and our easyauto123 used car business with vehicle disposals and additional inventory to supply that business, and the Karmo investment is expected to settle sometime in September. Our ambition is simple. Whatever mobility solution our customer needs, Eagers should be best positioned to help whilst also participating in the economic value chain. Now on to easyauto123.
easyauto123 is the epitome of Eagers Automotive positioning that company to win the trend and leverage market opportunity. We shared this bell curve earlier, but one other critical point must be highlighted. Not only are used cars largely immune from the new car OEM transformation, but the used car market is circa three times the size of the new car market. So materially bigger, materially more stable, and with a materially less capital-intensive growth requirement. Three key fundamentals, and only three, that make the easyauto123 business so compelling for Eagers Automotive. I am pleased to report that our independent used car business continues to grow and perform. During the first half, the business delivered another record performance, with underlying profit up 20% on prior year and with 14% additional volume.
Putting out the easyauto123 retail component and excluding the Carlins auction business, the metrics look even better. With retail volume up 30%, retail revenue up 40%, and underlying profit before tax increasing by 43%. Today, easyauto123 is approaching 30,000 vehicles retailed annually pro rata, and has established itself as the leading independent used vehicle retailer in Australia. One of the clearest indicators of the strength of the easyauto123 platform is that it continues to outperform regardless of market conditions. In fact, it is a business with operating metrics that are institutional. They are not market dependent, and that means its profit can be scaled more securely. For the first half of 2026, the used car market in Australia fell 6%. easyauto123 grew sales by 30%. easyauto123 margins grew by 11% when the retained values in the marketplace fell 7%.
We continue to turn inventory every 35 days on average, compared to a market average of 50 days. These are the lead indicators and the operating discipline that makes the profit repeatable and scalable. Stock turn velocity underpins easyauto123. Fast stock turns reduce risk, improve working capital efficiency, and provides greater flexibility in managing inventory levels as market conditions evolve. It is a considerable but, stock velocity is a theoretic pipe dream unless you are able to have a consistent, large volume of the right price stock to supply the business. Remember, there is no such thing as a used car factory from which to source your inventory. This is the moat that exists around easyauto123 and the globally unique competitive advantage that Eagers' 16% and growing new car share and the access to trade-ins is provided.
I hope that Eagers Automotive could never be accused of being passive or lacking ambition. We also like to think we are transparent in communicating our plans, and this slide is a case in point. Eagers Auto has now reached approximately 30,000 vehicles retailed annually and has delivered another record performance. The Australian used vehicle market is valued at approximately AUD 100 billion per annum and remains around three times larger than the new vehicle market. The pathway for easyauto123 to retail 100,000 vehicles per annum by 2030 is clearly defined, but importantly, it is not dependent on a single initiative. When we look at easyauto123, we see a clear pathway to becoming the scaled national leader. Few opportunities offer that combination of market size, proven execution, and future growth potential. On to the outlook.
As we look ahead, we are focused on growing a bigger and a better business. The second half of 2026 for Eagers will be characterized by five key factors. The whole industry and for Eagers will be characterized by continued new car portfolio optimization. That is nothing new for Eagers. We have been doing that consistently over the last decade. Eagers' outperformance of the industry on a margin basis will be supported by our larger tier 1 OEM partnerships. We will have strong CanadaOne contributions with a positive outlook for the second half and with a particular Toyota SKU, which mirrors the Australian expectations for Toyota also. We will continue to scale easyauto123, and we will integrate the recent acquisitions and strategic joint venture partnerships. Turnover growth will be strong, whilst we expect to maintain our material net profit margin outperformance of the wider industry.
Looking to 2027 and beyond, the bigger and stronger we get, the more active we become. This activity extends to both existing business optimization as well as organic, greenfield, and acquisitive growth. The most important point to the Eagers growth pathway is that we outlined it is not dependent on a single transaction or a single market or a single initiative. Rather, we have built a portfolio capable of delivering multiple years of earnings growth through a disciplined execution and deliberate capital allocation, while we continue to evolve our partner platform model. In such a dynamic industry globally, this platform provides solutions for a wide range of industry participants. Solutions for new brand entrants, solutions for established brands looking to new business models, solutions for standalone businesses to join the platform where all parties mutually benefit from the scale and value it creates for customers.
It's becoming a globally unique competitive advantage that is very difficult to replicate. Today's result demonstrates the strength of Eagers Automotive, the quality of our people, and the effectiveness of the strategy we've executed over many years. We've delivered record financial performance. We've successfully entered the Canadian market, continued to expand our portfolio of growth platforms, and further strengthen the foundations of the group for the future. Importantly, none of this happens without the extraordinary commitment of our people. Across Australia, New Zealand, and now Canada, thousands of team members continue to deliver for our customers, support our business partners, and represent the wider business every single day. Their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to continuous improvement are what ultimately drive the results we get the privilege to report.
Eagers Automotive has successfully evolved for more than 113 years, and today we are laying the foundations for the next chapter of that journey based on the quality of the people we do business with, be they employees, our customers, our valued business partners, or our shareholders and investors. We look forward to updating you on our progress as we continue building one of the world's leading automotive retail and mobility platforms. Thank you so much for your attention.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two, and if you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Phil Chippendale from Ord Minnett. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, team. Thanks for your time. Firstly, just in terms of margin expectations into the second half, Keith, could you just give us a sense of how you think the Australian business is positioned? Yeah, and where you think those PBT margins also head towards in the second half, please.
Yeah, sure, Phil.
Hard to judge exactly. I think the comment that we have made in our presentation is we continue to grow the outperformance that Eagers delivers compared to the industry. We are more fortunate than most. We have got some very material parts of our business and relationships with some brands that we expect very strong second halves with. There was a call-out around the well-documented SKU that Toyota, both in Canada and Australia, is likely to be able to produce. We have got a number of other very large positions with really strong businesses that we expect a very strong second half from. That will certainly underpin our performance. One stat that is really interesting, that most people don't know, is this talk around portfolio optimization. Since 2019, we certainly don't communicate this widely, but we have actually sold, closed, or consolidated 109 dealerships, which most people don't realize.
In the last 12 months, we have opened greenfield operations in 93 different locations.
The reason I give those stats, Phil, is that we are super active on managing our portfolio to be the best portfolio. It is not just about growing market share, and we sit at 16% of the new car market, it is making sure that we have got the best 16%. If we have got the best portfolio, if we continue to manage our business in a disciplined way and drive our costs down and optimize our operations, we are likely to significantly outperform. As we see the second half, we usually have an improvement in the second half return on sales because of KPI checks from some large OEMs. We don't expect that to change this year. As I said, we have got a couple of key OEMs that will have a very strong second half.
easyauto123 will continue to grow, and its returns are very good. Then we have got six months of Canada on top. As we sit here today, we don't see a material change on what we have produced previously.
Okay, thanks. Just pivoting to the OpEx line. That did beat my expectations, so well done once again, and you have obviously got a long track record of driving productivity and efficiency. Again, how much more do you feel like you have got in terms of opportunity to continue to squeeze your business a little bit more and continue to drive that efficiency going forward?
It's interesting, Phil. I wouldn't put a number on it. It's a good question to ask. The best way to answer it is we've got so far to go in terms of rolling out the initiatives that we've got. I sit here, and I'll be quite frank, I'm frustrated with our lack of progress on a number of the productivity initiatives that we've got. Even though we've been doing them for five or six years, I believe there's a lot more to be done in that. The other thing is that obviously, as a percentage of revenue, that gets driven down with the scale that we drive and the operating leverage. It's a combination of both. It's that operating leverage out of scaling the top line as well as the initiatives. I've got Edward with me.
We probably have six different technology initiatives that are in early-stage rollout that will make material benefits there. As I said in my speech notes, it's a big part of our DNA because we don't ever profess to gross better than other dealers that represent the same brands as us. We might from time to time, and we certainly try and create more gross opportunities through ancillary performance like finance, insurance, car care, and things like that. Ultimately, our success is based on having a lean operating model that is the most productive in the industry, and that's what we keep delivering on. Hard to put a number on it, Phil, but there's still plenty of road ahead.
Okay, thanks. Thanks for your time, and I'll jump back in the queue.
Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Tom Kierath from Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Morning, guys. Just at the AGM, I think you guys said orders outstrip deliveries by about 29%. It looks like you've delivered quite a lot in May and June, but are you able to give us an update of that order versus deliveries at the end of the half, just so we can, I guess, assess what's going to happen in the second half? Thanks.
So we're still sitting there, Tom, with an order bank of more than 25,000 units. So we've still got a very substantial order bank. But we were fortunate that we were able to deliver into the half year, probably better than some others. But I also should point out that our order bank and our order right was materially higher, even on a percentage base, than virtually anyone else in the industry. As we go into the second half of the year, as we sit here in August, order right on a like-for-like basis is up 4% in August. Pleasingly, and I've sort of flagged it a couple of times, we don't generally talk to OEMs specifically on our calls. It's one of the things that Eagers doesn't do.
But pleasingly, on a number of those OEMs that we are overweight with or have a very large position with, we've started to see that order right on a like-for-like basis lift as we go into the second half, which is great. And that underpins the confidence that I just mentioned when I was answering the previous question.
Great, thanks. In Canada, there's obviously been some changes allowing Chinese OEMs into the market there. You've obviously got a pretty good track record with BYD. Can you maybe just talk at a high level how the discussions are going with the Chinese OEMs in the Canadian market to potentially bring them in over the next few years?
I'll talk about at a macro level. The industry over there is very interesting. It's a big market, 1.9 million, and the tariff-free Chinese volume is 49,000. So it's almost immaterial in terms of that total market, and I think it only grows to 70,000 over five years. So firstly, it allows an entry into that market for Chinese OEMs. I think that is the most important point from an optics point of view for the Canadian government and the Canadian economy. At the end of the day, Canada makes a lot of cars. They produce a lot of cars. Over almost 1.5 million vehicles a year are made in Canada. So they've got a very big local manufacturing base that they need to protect.
I think that's actually the most important thing in Canada to remember, that they have that local manufacturing to protect. I think the Canadian market is certainly the door has been pushed ajar for Chinese entrants. However, we expect it will be a while before it's going to become a material part of the Canadian market while things are as they are. If that makes sense.
Yep, great. Thanks, Keith.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Jared Gelsomino from Morgans. Please go ahead.
Morning, Keith, Sophie, and team. Congratulations on the results and thanks for taking my question. Just for Keith, just interested in the ea123, the FY 2030, targeting 100,000, pretty meaningful uplift from the 30,000 expected for 2026. I know you got the bridge on the slide, but I'd be really interested if you speak to the execution of this in a little more detail.
Big question, Jared, but thank you for asking it. It's an important question. The point of what we're talking about there is, and you can see the bridge is made up of a number of components. I'll just talk to those components. So optimization is material, and it's more than 10,000 units per annum is out of optimizing our existing operation. What that means is lifting the, I guess, the bottom 30% of our operations to equal the average of the top 30%. And that will generate more than 10,000 units just out of the existing business. The reason that's so important is that's the Eagers DNA I've talked about. You've got to make sure that your existing business is optimized and performing as well as it can before you rush off and grow elsewhere.
There is still additional volume that will be transitioned into easyauto123 as we roll out our strategy in our franchise automotive business. Think of as we, again, consolidate, redevelop property and traditional standalone, very small-scale used cars, transition those trade-in volumes and that very valuable used car inventory they get access to when they sell a new car into easyauto123. That's an equal sort of weight in terms of volume there. The NEV upside is significant. One of the drags on the opportunity, not on our performance, but on the opportunity, is at the moment, NEV still has had an overweight percentage of sales through the Novated channels, and the Novated channels are less conducive to allowing trade-ins to be captured. We are rapidly fixing that. That NEV opportunity is significant.
To be able to use our scale partnerships with a number of key NEV brands, to funnel in and capture even our group average trade-in ratio seriously moves the dial in easyauto123. Fleet is partnering with large fleets. Again, we are having some incredible wins. We are the only plug-and-play national disposal option for large fleets that can allow retail, auction, buy it now prices, sell on behalf of as a consignment sale. We have got a truly unique competitive advantage, and we are generating significant upside in fleet. The final is something that we have alluded to before, and that is using our partner model. The best example of that is this recent acquisition. Our investment with Grand Motors Group is a classic example. We do not have any operations on the Gold Coast. It is a fantastic market for used cars.
When we spoke to Greg Scott, the founder of Grand Motors Group, we talked about the easyauto123 opportunity and to establish a beachhead on the Gold Coast, and that is highly appealing to him. That is just, I guess, a breadcrumb of how the partner model will roll out over the next three years. We are very confident those bar graphs will, some of them will be bigger and some of them will be smaller and some will happen sooner rather than later. We are fairly confident, and we wanted to communicate that, and we wanted to put the pressure on because that is our plan on the growth of easyauto123. It is really significant.
Perfect. Thanks, Keith. That is clear. Maybe just one more, if I can, just on Canada. I mean, looks like the group is probably outperformed the broader market there, which is a little softer to start the year, but is back in growth in recent months. Could you maybe just touch on how much has that been being overweight in those big three OEMs that you are over there versus maybe the impacts of operational execution from the CanadaOne Auto team?
Well, it is a combination of both, Jared. You are absolutely right. Being with the right brands, a bit like the Eagers story here. Having the best portfolio is step one, then outperforming your peers in the market in those same brands. To give you a stat, the CanadaOne Auto team are up 5.5% in volume in that period, in that two-month period, compared to those same brands consolidated in the marketplace being up only 0.7%. So they continually outperform their peers in the marketplace, and that goes to the quality of the operators. An interesting stat is that, as we move into July and why we are so confident about Canada, their turnover was up by 12.8% July 26 versus July 25, which is fantastic. We are really very confident in the way they are performing over there.
The Canadian team, we've said it a million times, and I think we'll continue to say they are absolutely first class. But it's nice when they're first class, and they're also confident.
Perfect. Thanks, guys. I'll jump back in the queue.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Chris Savage from Bell Potter. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Hey, Keith. Hey, Sophie. Just on Toyota in Australia, you typically get a so-called check from Toyota every November, December, which is linked to volume. Is the lighter volume in the first half of the year potentially going to affect the check size come November, December?
Chris, it won't be overly material. The reason is it's on annual sales, what you're referring to. Toyota had very strong ambitions for the second half. I think, as I said, their lower volume in the first half was largely related to lack of supply. Give you an interesting stat. I think our deliveries for the first half were down circa 20%. Order right was only down 7%, but even that's a misread, because that 7% wasn't because demand was down 7%. It probably related to people who walked into a Toyota store and said, "I'd like to buy model X," and we said, "We can't supply for a number of months." They went and bought something else because they were urgent to buy a car. It wasn't a lack of demand in the order bank, and the order right is strong.
Toyota have very strong ambitions to have a record second half of 2026, and we expect their overall year to be still very strong. The materiality of that check, when you apply that through to us, it's immaterial.
You expect a similar check size come November, December?
Maybe slightly less, but it'll be around the edges.
Okay. Just switching to Canada, you touched on this a bit before, but the current or escalating trade war between U.S. and Canada, does that have any impact on CanadaOne Auto?
We are not overly concerned by it. Well, sorry. We are always alert to it, and we are always conscious of it. But this sort of looming ongoing trade war between Canada and the U.S. has been going on for 18 months. The business over there is like the rest of the world is sort of getting on with life, and it is pretty much resilient to the headlines. One of the interesting things, too, that people do not understand, particularly in automotive, is that Canada is the U.S. OEM's largest trade partner for cars manufactured in the U.S. The Canadian market takes more cars than the next three trade partners added together. So if there is any sort of tit-for-tat tariffs between Canada and the U.S., the net impact would be more material in the U.S. in our industry.
Which means that the big three and the U.S. manufacturers will certainly be talking to the government in the U.S. and saying, "Just be careful on what you do here." I think Canada, even with this Section 338 tariffs that they are talking about, would still have the third lowest overall effective tariff rate, of any country that does business with the U.S. So while it is getting a lot of headlines, we do not expect it. Again, we will be alert to it, but we are not overly concerned.
Sure. Just lastly, you mentioned, and it certainly appears that CanadaOne Auto performed well, but there was a revaluation of the contingent consideration. So what drove that?
Chris, that was in relation to an acquisition in Australia that we did more than 12 months ago, and that was an earn-out that we had.
It was nothing to do with CanadaOne Auto?
No, no, nothing to do with CanadaOne Auto. It was Australian.
Okay
When we did an acquisition in the Queensland market, we put a AUD 10 million consideration and we released they did not quite hit the profit target, so we still got AUD 2.5 million on the balance sheet.
Yeah.
But yeah, we released that 7.5 into statutory profit in this half.
Yep. Okay. My apologies. Thank you.
Thanks, Chris.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Andrew Hodge from Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.
Morning, Keith. Morning, Sophie. Just in terms of the Australian PBT margin, flat in an absolute sense, but relatively has improved again, next to the industry and the peers. That relative improvement, if we look under the hood, how much of that is just that operational efficiency gain or are there other elements that are contributing to that relative performance? Is the autos growing at a better margin than the wider group? Just a bit more detail around the breakup within that 3% margin.
I think, Andrew, there is a big part of it. I do not want to be overly confident in talking about the performance of the execution, but there is a big part in the way we have executed it and how we have leveraged our scale. The reason I say that is there are two components that have actually been of considerable drag on our return on sales margin in the first half, and that is this Toyota SKU. There was a significant, as I said before, we are almost 20% down on Toyota deliveries for the first half of the year, which we expect to see significantly ramp up over the course of the year. That was a significant drag to that return on sales. We are still carrying, as we highlighted, the New Zealand market drag as well, which also impacts it as well.
There are a number of parts of the business that were in that first half result that were actually drags on our overall performance. The reality is the way the margin has been generated is through our operating model. One of the things I will point out actually, Andrew, while I have got you, is the slide number. Sorry. It is our return on sales slide, and this is an important one to understand. It is slide 16 for anyone looking at it. On the face of our financials, you will see that our gross margin dropped in the first half 2026 versus first half of 2025. But that is an absolute misread if people link that to margins on new vehicles.
That is because our gross profit margin for our business is a combination of what we make out of new cars, used cars, finance, service, parts, and KPI income, as people who follow the industry closely understand. But what people tend to do is look at gross margin and think, "Oh, that is because margins on vehicle sales are up or down." It is a total misread, because that gross margin can move up or down dependent on your mix. If you sell a whole lot of cars, new cars, in a rapidly growing brand that does not have the associated service and parts income yet, because there is a lag of 12 months and beyond, you will get a distorted gross margin impact. The bottom line to all of that is that the gross margin has been very resilient, and our cost base is what is driving our performance.
That's great. Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Sarah Mann, from MA Moelis Australia. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Keith. Morning, Sophie. Thanks for taking my questions. The first question for me is just on the NEV demand. Clearly you guys were a beneficiary of that in the period. Just curious how you anticipate that demand to track over the rest of the year. Just wondering, how much is just like a structural change versus how much was a pull forward and where you think that might normalize at?
Yeah. It's a good question, Sarah, and I don't know whether anyone's got a definitive answer, obviously, at this stage. It's a little bit hard to use what happened over March and April and the fuel crisis period when the Iran conflict first occurred as any sort of extrapolated demand, because it was so extraordinary. We've never seen anything like it. The one thing we have observed, though, is that the transition from a fully combustion engine car to a full electric vehicle, and that transition might include a hybrid vehicle, a plug-in hybrid vehicle, and ultimately a full battery electric vehicle, is a one-way street. Generally speaking, people transition to a lower emission vehicle and either hybrid and/or plug-in, and we're not seeing a lot of people who have gone down that path, then selling out and coming back to combustion vehicle engines.
Once you take a big step change, like has occurred in 2026, along that path towards a more plugged-in or a lower emission powertrain, people have sort of started the journey and it will only be a small fraction that will come back the other way. I think whether it was a single catalyst that has just created a step change and now the growth will be more flat, whether it will tail off a little bit or not, I don't know. But we expect that the overall NEV, so any car that's plugged in, portion of the market at circa 25%, we sort of think that's where it's going to be at the moment.
Great. Thanks for that. Just in terms of, you talked about portfolio optimization, and I mean, as you've said, that's just something you've done for a long period of time. But just curious, in terms of adding other Chinese brands, presumably there's not only going to be one winner. Just how are you thinking about expanding your exposure there as their market share in Australia grows?
We don't have a Chinese brand strategy. Ultimately, we have brand strategies, whether they're established or new brands. And there is opportunity, a lot of opportunity, in the established brands and the brands that we've represented for a long time. And there's some opportunity and some good opportunity in new brands as well, Sarah. We've said it all along. It is not the brand or the total quantum of vehicles that a brand sells. It's the economic model that an OEM creates. And what that is how many vehicles do they bring in relative to the underlying demand? What sort of income opportunities do they create inside their OEM around vehicle margins, KPIs, the ability to trade lots of cars, finance, insurance opportunities? And do they have a profitable service and parts backend as well? And then finally, what's the cost base?
How many rooftops do they need in their network to deliver that volume? What sort of cost base do they apply to that OEM? And to be quite frank, the economics vary wildly across every OEM. But there's never been more pressure on OEMs to get it right. And the total number of cars being sold in Australia is less of an issue than the economics that sit underneath the brand are. And that's what we're really focused on. And we're spending a lot of time working with our partners to make sure that all our partners are successful for the long term. But it may need some optimization of their networks, and we're happy and very keen to work with them and help that happen. The only other comment I would say is that obviously any brand that is growing is a good thing.
It is nice to be part of a growing brand. We will certainly look at any brand, new or established, and see what the growth potential is. We will look at them and see whether we think that is a brand that will be sustainably able to grow in the Australian market with good economics underneath it. That is what matters.
Great. Thank you. Just last question on Canada. There has been a bit of, I guess, a pause in this period on the acquisition activity there. Can you give us a bit of an update in terms of how we should think about that going forward now that the deal is complete? Should we kind of be expecting a bit of a catch-up given that we are coming off a slower period?
I think acquisition activity for most groups can be lumpy. Sometimes two or three happen all at once. Sometimes nothing happens for a period of time. I think that is a fair assessment to say. I would not say there is going to be a catch-up. There might be. There is. The team over in CanadaOne Auto are incredibly active at looking at opportunities. Their partnership with Eagers was prefaced on growing. We were seen as a great partner and enabler for that growth. Obviously, you know Eagers well, and we want to grow. There is no change in terms of mindset or appetite, and certainly no change in ability to grow.
All of those things mean that we are working on quite a few opportunities at the moment, and it is hard to say, because I do not want to say a whole heap are going to fall at once or one big one or one small one or whatever is going to happen, because it is a market that we do not operate in. I could talk a lot more definitively about what would likely complete in Australia, because we know who we are dealing with. At this stage, we are dealing with our partners in Canada, and I would say that there is going to be no lack of activity in North America for CanadaOne Auto and Eagers over the coming year and beyond.
Great. Thanks very much.
Thanks, Sarah.
Thank you. Your next question comes from John Campbell from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Conscious of the time, I will just ask one question. The New Zealand franchise, exiting the New Zealand franchise business, was that in losses? If so, roughly, what was the quantum, in terms of the go forward impact on exiting that?
John, it was in losses. We haven't called that out, and I think it's a little bit sensitive to do it on an all-persons group call. We might just keep that to ourselves. But the business was in losses over there, and that's been a drag on earnings for the last two years. Eagers are disciplined about capital allocation, but we're not a fair-weathered partner to our OEMs. Losses don't create an immediate change in our strategy. What we do is look at the business performance. Can we improve the performance? But more importantly, we look at the dynamics of the market. The New Zealand market is a very small market. I think it's smaller than Queensland. It's got just as many new entrants entering, mainly from China, that Australia has.
It's got a large gray import market, which means that reduces the size of the new car market and has almost another channel for customers to consider. All of that means that the go-to-market model in New Zealand is changing, and we're seeing this huge convergence of importers, companies that actually have the rights to import brands into the country, and they also are retailers. So they own wholesale and retail, and they play in the margin from top to bottom, and they are able to benefit from setting up a network that suits them best. Unless Eagers changed our strategic approach to match that and decided we wanted to play in that space over in New Zealand, I think we would've been at further disadvantage going forward. So it's AUD 325 million worth of turnover per annum that will drop out in a full year next year.
It'll probably complete late this year. And the losses are certainly more than seven figures and not quite eight.
Great. That's very helpful. Thanks, Keith. Look forward to speaking this afternoon.
Thanks, John.
Thank you. Unfortunately, that does conclude our time for questions. We note there are still a number of questioners on the line. Please be sure the Eagers team will endeavor to reach out to you today following the call. I would now like to hand back to Keith Thornton for any closing remarks.
Thank you very much, and thank you to everyone who dialed in today. We appreciate your attention. To any Eagers staff that dialed in today, I wanted to specifically thank you for all your efforts. It means a lot to us to be able to report your great results. It's an absolute privilege, so thank you for your attention and all your great efforts. We continue to be very excited about where Eagers is going, and hopefully today we've given you a real sense of what the remainder of 2026 looks like, but much more excitingly, what 2027, 2028, and beyond looks like. This is a great opportunity for this business in the future, and we certainly see the growth and the performance growing. Thanks, everyone.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.