I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Damien Berrell, CEO. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, and good morning to everyone. It's good to be with you today to present FleetPartners' 2025 financial results. I'm pleased to be here today with our Chief Financial Officer, James Owens. Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waterways across Australia and pay my respects to Elders past and present. 2025 has been a pivotal year for FleetPartners, a year of genuine transformation. As a result, we take great pride in what FleetPartners has become today. Accelerate is now complete, and we are seeing early signs of its benefits, demonstrated by some of the KPIs James will present shortly. We delivered solid financial results this year, with growth in UMOF and MPAE pre-EOL, despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, which has led to a cautious approach amongst our customers.
While new business writings was down against a record FY2024, our customer value proposition is resonating with fleet managers, which led to a pleasing run of tender wins during the year. We also generated high cash flow and strong capital returns. The continued strength of our balance sheet and cash flow generation has supported the Board's decision to increase our capital payout ratio range to 60%–70% of MPAE. Finally, today we announced the acquisition of Remunerator, which will significantly strengthen our salary packaging capabilities. Let's explore these points in more detail, starting with slide six with the 2025 financial performance highlights. Two key messages emerge from today's result. First, FleetPartners remains a defensive investment underpinned by consistent performance. Despite subdued business confidence this year, we continue to grow assets and core income thanks to the strength of our products and services.
Second, our operations generate substantial positive cash flow, enabling strategic investments while maintaining disciplined capital management and shareholder returns. New business writings declined 16% year on year, reflecting the exceptional pipeline unwind in FY2024. Excluding this, new business writings were down 6%, driven partly by subdued business confidence. Nevertheless, UMOF grew to AUD 2.3 billion, up 2%–3%, underscoring the resilience of our business model. Core income reached AUD 169 million, growing at 6%, core income being what we previously referred to as NOI pre-EOL and provisions. MPAE pre-EOL was AUD 41 million, up 9%, a strong result driven by disciplined expense management and the continued growth in UMOF and core income. Finally, end-of-lease income was AUD 61 million, with EOL per unit at AUD 5,880, and vehicles sold down 10%.
A critical point to highlight is that at the current profit- per- unit levels, our portfolio has an illustrated embedded EOL income of approximately AUD 250 million. EPS rose 3% to AUD 0.375, supported by our on-market share buyback program. Organic cash flow was AUD 93 million, reinforcing FleetPartners' high cash flow business. This provides strength for investing in growth while maintaining disciplined capital management. I'll talk to this in more detail later, but today we are announcing two changes to our capital management framework. First is the increase in our capital payout ratio range to 60-70% of MPAE. Second, notwithstanding the success of our multi-year buyback program, the Board, after careful consideration of both market factors and the Group's strong capital position, has concluded to end the buyback program and return capital via an unfranked dividend.
In this context, today we announce an AUD 29 million unfranked dividend at AUD 13.6 per share, representing the midpoint of our payout ratio range. Finally, and significantly, the dividend represents an 8.9% annualised yield. Let's turn to slide seven. As announced earlier today, I'm delighted to share that FleetPartners has entered into an agreement to acquire Remunerator. Remunerator is a highly respected business with over 30 years of experience in salary packaging and novated leasing. Their deep expertise and strong customer relationships make them an ideal partner for FleetPartners. This acquisition strengthens our price offering, enabling us to deliver even more value to our existing customers. It also opens new growth channels for our novated business, giving us access to segments of the market that were previously beyond reach without Remunerator's capabilities.
In addition to these strategic benefits, the transaction is expected to deliver low single-digit EPS accretion on a pre-synergy basis, with the deal completion anticipated in the first half of FY2026. We see this as an exciting step forward for FleetPartners, one that positions us for continued growth while enhancing the breadth and quality of services we provide to our customers. Let's turn to slide eight and the opportunity ahead for FleetPartners. FleetPartners operates in three significant, underpenetrated, high-returning target markets of large fleets, small fleets, and novated. Each market benefits from distinct tailwinds. Large fleets. In the current phase of the cycle, companies are increasingly turning to cost reduction to deliver earnings growth. The outsourcing of fleet management is a popular option in that context. In the mid to long term, the transition to EVs calls for expertise, which fleet management companies are uniquely positioned to provide.
With smaller fleets, we offer simplicity in a bundled pay-as-you-go product, a product that facilitates the shift away from vehicle ownership and into vehicle usage, a trend we see well established in other parts of the world like Europe. Finally, novated, a compelling total cost of ownership proposition for individuals that continues to grow in public consciousness thanks to the benefits of the Electric Car Discount Bill. Let's turn to slide nine about our strategic focus. Our strategic focus is simple: attract, retain, grow, and profit. Attract new customers through focused industry targeting and an omnichannel distribution strategy, all propelled by strong commercial intensity. In 2025, we achieved several successful outcomes around this, including the launching of our small-f leet online calculator, enhancing our automated credit scorecard, and teaming up much closer with several OEMs. We retained existing customers with industry-leading service and by cultivating deep, multi-layered relationships.
We are committed to continually raising our Net Promoter Score with no upper limit on our ambition. In the second half of 2025, we focused on strengthening our novated relationships. Part of this effort included the recent upgrade to our novated customer digital portal, another tangible benefit from Accelerate. We grew share of wallet by delivering a comprehensive suite of market-leading fleet products that support our customers' goals of productivity, safety, and sustainability. Solid progress was made around this in FY25, evidenced by the core margin expansion in both fleet New Zealand and novated. Finally, we optimized profit by continuing to maximize our operational leverage on the back of project Accelerate. Looking forward to FY26, we have an extensive pipeline of initiatives to drive these priorities forward, with a select few listed on the slide.
Let's turn to slide 10 on our ESG highlights before I hand over to James for the financial results. FleetPartners is deeply committed to ESG responsibilities. We continue to help our customers reduce their impact on the environment, along with demonstrating leadership in this space, as evidenced by three achievements in particular. 60% of the novated leases written in 2025 were electric vehicles. Our team conducted 126 customer sustainability reviews since FY 2024, and we delivered a 42% reduction in our Scope one and two emissions since FY 2022. We also advanced our social impact through volunteer work and fundraising. Finally, although we have much work to do, we have increased our representation of women in senior roles, a goal which is at the center of our commitment to diverse leadership. I'll now pass across to James for the financial results.
Thank you, Damien, and good morning, everyone.
Let me begin with slide 12. As anticipated in our September trading update, new business writings reduced by 16% in FY2025. This outcome was in line with our expectation and reflects the exceptionally strong performance in FY2024, which benefited from the unwind of elevated order backlogs as new vehicle supply normalized. Excluding this pipeline unwind, new business writings were down just 6%, the result of subdued business confidence across Australia and New Zealand, and the temporary impact of the Accelerate system cutover, challenges we have now fully resolved. Despite the lower new business writings, UMOF continued its upward trajectory, growing 3%, excluding FX impacts, and up 6% on an average basis. This demonstrates the underlying strength and durability of our business model.
With the novated funding transition now largely complete, balance sheet funding represented 80% of UMOF for September 2025, further enhancing the quality of our earnings. Turning to slide 13, the growth in average UMOF translated into a 6% increase in core income, with core margin remaining stable. The anticipated margin reduction in Fleet Australia was offset by margin expansion in novated and Fleet New Zealand. As expected, Fleet Australia margins will continue to normalize as highly profitable extensions are replaced by new business writings at typical margins. End-of-lease income remained robust at AUD 60.7 million, while EOL per unit was 4% lower than the prior corresponding period. Profit per unit, excluding EOL charges, was up 2% on 1H25. This reflects the ongoing stability in used car pricing.
The number of vehicles disposed was 10% lower, consistent with the lower new business writings, which had an AUD 7 million impact on EOL in FY2025. Provisions increased primarily due to the growth in balance sheet- funded novated leases and a temporary rise in arrears linked to the Accelerate system cutover. Overall, NOI was AUD 223.9 million, just 1% lower than the prior year. Operating expenses were AUD 91.5 million, up 3%, and right at the midpoint of our expectations, reflecting disciplined cost management and the benefits of Accelerate, alongside targeted investments to support future growth. Bringing these elements together, EBITDA was AUD 132.4 million, down 4%. Importantly, MPAE pre-EOL was AUD 41.3 million, up 9%, underscoring the strong unwind performance of the business. Turning to slide 14, used car pricing remained strong and stable, as evidenced by the chart benchmarking average used vehicle prices to September 2023.
Demonstrating the resilience of used vehicle pricing that we have mentioned, EOL per unit for FY2025 reduced by 4% compared to PCP, but 2H2025 profit per unit, excluding EOL charges, increased by 2% compared to 1H2025. Overall, EOL income was down 14% due to a 10% reduction in units sold, as previously discussed. If the current stability in used car pricing persists, we expect EOL profit per unit to remain at these levels in the medium term. This is equivalent to embedded EOL income in the portfolio of approximately AUD 250 million, which is expected to be realized over the next five years. While we anticipate a return to historical average levels over the longer term, this will be driven by new leases written to reflect current used car pricing, with those leases not expected to reach end of term for at least three years.
Crucially, the extended timeframe for EOL normalization provides FleetPartners with an opportunity to continue growing UMOF and core income, offsetting the longer-term normalization of EOL. Turning to arrears on page 15, our portfolio continues to demonstrate strong credit quality. For corporate customers, the vehicles we lease are business-critical, revenue-generating assets, and for novated customers, lease payments are made directly by employers, driving consistently strong credit performance even through challenging cycles. Underlying arrears were 45 basis points at September, slightly above the long-term average, with an additional 15 basis points due to temporary administrative impacts in novated following the Accelerate cutover. We expect arrears to return to long-term average levels over 1H26 as the new system and processes are embedded. Despite these temporary factors, we remain highly confident in the composition and performance of our portfolio.
Turning to slide 16, FleetPartners continues to deliver outstanding organic cash generation, returning the business to a net cash position of AUD 28 million at September 2025. Organic cash generation was AUD 93 million, representing a cash conversion ratio of 106%, a clear demonstration of our disciplined capital management. Turning to slide 17, our diversified funding platform remains a core competitive advantage, limiting our exposure to interest rate movements. For P&A-funded leases, we have no interest rate exposure. For warehouse and ABS-funded leases, we hedge base rates at inception, and funding margins are locked in for the life of an ABS deal or reset annually for warehouses. Our successful AUD 400 million Australian ABS deal in July and the warehouse extensions in September have further improved our cost of funds. With AUD 515 million of undrawn warehouse capacity at September 2025, we're exceptionally well positioned for growth.
Our balance sheet is robust, with a net cash position of AUD 27.9 million and AUD 65 million of undrawn revolver capacity. In summary, despite a challenging year, FleetPartners has delivered a strong set of underlying results in FY2025. With the Accelerate program now fully implemented, we're exceptionally well positioned for the future, ready to capture new opportunities and deliver sustainable value for our shareholders. I'll now hand back to Damien to discuss our investment case and outlook.
Thanks, James. Turning to slide 19, FleetPartners' business case is defined by clear growth opportunities, predictability, defensiveness, and strong cash flows. As you have seen through the presentation, there is much to like about the opportunity in FleetPartners, but allow me to nominate five key areas. First, we continue to invest for growth in large, under-penetrated, addressable markets that offer attractive returns and feature high barriers to entry. Second, our confidence in growing and penetrating at hand is underpinned by the compelling nature of our product proposition. We are market leaders in reducing the cost of vehicle ownership and are a business-critical supplier for our customers, which span virtually all industry sectors. Third, our product proposition is supplemented by market-leading capabilities built from over four decades of experience. We are best in class at fleet management, funding, credit, vehicle maintenance, and residual value underwriting.
Fourth, our business model delivers stable, predictable, and recurring earnings. 95% of core income is annuity-like in nature, embedded in every lease for an average term of 3.9 years. In addition, approximately 80% of leases remain on-hook from the start to the end of the year, with those rolling off being replaced with new leases 90% of the time. Finally, we are a high-yielding business because of our strong cash flow generation, with an implied dividend yield of 8.9%. It is these five fundamentals that ensure the group delivers consistent returns for shareholders, which brings us to slide 20. Since FY2023, EPS has grown at a CAGR of 6%, largely driven by our share buyback program. Ignoring the impact from EOL, the underlying EPS based on MPAE pre-EOL has grown at 15%.
Our strategy is clear: gain market share in high-returning, under-penetrated segments of large fleets, small fleets, and novated, expand core margins by investing in products and services, and maintain strict cost discipline and leverage scale efficiencies post-Accelerate. Let's turn to slide 20. As mentioned at the top of the meeting, in a clear sign of the confidence in the Group's strong capital position, the Board has increased our capital payout ratio range to 60–70%. In recent years, the group has consistently returned earnings to shareholders in the form of an on-market share buyback. Today's announcement, however, sees the group reverting to dividends for the first time since 2019. At AUD 29 million, or at AUD 0.136 per share, the dividend represents 65% of 2H25 MPAE, being the midpoint of our increased payout range.
Finally, whilst today's dividend is unfranked, the Board expects to frank future dividends after September 2026. Let's turn to slide 22 to look at the outlook before opening the line for questions. The operating environment remains subdued, with the group looking to 2H26 for momentum to build. Customers remain cautious, holding vehicles for longer, which impacts new business writings and, to a lesser extent, UMOF. We continue to see strong interest in novated, supported by the electric car discount. As a macro thematic, the transition to zero-emission fleets continues to present a significant opportunity for the industry. Core margin is expected to remain stable. We anticipate some headwinds as portfolio extension levels return to historical norms. However, we also see opportunities arising from maintaining our disciplined pricing approach and the introduction of new novated products. The group has a strong track record around cost management, and that will continue.
OpEx is expected to be between AUD 95 million–AUD 96 million, AUD 1.5 million relating to a reclass from share-based payments expense, with the remaining 2%–3% increase driven by higher activity levels, investment in growth, and cost inflation, all of which is expected to be partially offset by the full-year impact of Accelerate benefits. Finally, we expect FleetPartners to continue to generate high cash flows, supporting consistent shareholder distribution. In closing, our resilient business model and strong cash generation have ensured consistent shareholder returns over the last several years, an important strength to possess in the current macroeconomic environment. We are united by a clear, energizing strategy that motivates our entire team to chase opportunities with confidence and ambition. Above all, management's focus is firmly fixed on executing this strategy and delivering sustained value for our shareholders.
With that, I'll now hand back to the operator to open the line for questions.
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. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question today comes from Phil Chippendale with Ord Minnett. Please go ahead.
Hi, gentlemen. Thanks for your time. A couple of questions from me. Just firstly, on the acquisition, can you just talk to the rationale around the salary packaging capability of Remunerator and how you think you can benefit on the back of that, please?
Okay, Phil. Yeah, sure. No problem. There are probably two key aspects to the logic behind that in terms of the strategic fit. What Remunerator brings to us is a full suite of salary packaging capability. We see that as an advantage in terms of being able to sell that to our existing customer portfolio, but also it gives us access to parts of the novated market that previously were out of reach for us, given the fact that a lot of the prerequisites to sort of go after that part of the market was to have that full suite of salary packaging. For us, those strategic benefits mean that it unlocks some new growth channels for us in the novated space.
Okay, thanks. In your materials, I think you mentioned earlier when you were talking, Damien, just around some potential extra products or new products that you're expecting to bring through on the novated line. Can you just unpack that for us?
Yeah, sure. Historically, at FleetPartners and the novated business, we haven't offered the same level of aftermarket products that our major competitors have. Part of that's been because of just the convoluted sort of system setup that we had here, and it wasn't worth introducing those given we were going to do the Accelerate project. Now that we've done that, it's behind us. There's a number of sort of core aftermarket products which the market offers that we don't, and we're looking to sort of introduce that over the coming year.
Okay, thanks. The last one from me. Just on your outlook, you may have spoken to sort of some macro uncertainty, particularly for the customer side of things. Is that something that you're currently seeing in terms of volumes, or is this more sort of leading indicators that sort of driven that commentary?
Yeah, we see just cautious behavior with our corporate customers in Australia and New Zealand, and that just leads to sort of delayed decision-making. They tend to just extend their leases rather than take out new leases. We saw that through FY2025, and that's sort of the sentiment that we see exiting FY2025 and going into FY2026. We expect that cautiousness and that subdued demand to sort of continue in FY2026. That's the sort of near-term outlook, but in the long term, we're really confident in terms of how we set up FleetPartners for sustained growth.
Okay, thanks, guys. I'll jump back in with you.
Thanks, Phil.
Our next question comes from Jenny Wang with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Oh, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe just the first one in terms of seasonality on new business writings. I'm just kind of interested in what fourth-quarter seasonality, I guess, typically looks like. The last few years do seem to be a bit skewed by where new vehicle supply has been. But in more normal environments and on a go-forward basis, what does seasonality typically look like, and where does fourth quarter usually rank?
Thanks, Jenny. Yeah, look, seasonality, in a normal environment, is typically impacted by the quietest months of the year for us, being December and January. All else being equal, you would expect to see a weighting towards the second half normally. I think, as Damien's outlined, particularly given the macros that we're seeing and what we're seeing in novated, particularly at the moment in terms of some of the big financial institutions, which is our customer base is skewed to that sector anyway. With the redundancies and restructuring that's happening there, that is impacting demand at the moment. When you put those things together, it does probably seem more skewed to the second half this year than typical.
Got it. Maybe just honing in on that fourth quarter, I guess where I was trying to come at is, in the fourth quarter, on my numbers, if I've got the maths correct, you guys did about AUD 212 million of new business writings. I mean, can we kind of annualize that into FY2026, or is there, I guess, that seasonality piece? Obviously, you guys kind of did call out the macro piece as well, but just wondering how good of a run rate that fourth quarter of 2025 actually is.
Yeah, look, I think that Q4 run rate isn't a bad indication in terms of the full year, but I think we'll definitely see that kind of dip down in the first half and then bounce back in the second half is probably the way to think about that.
Got it. And then just one last one. Just on that core income, you guys finished the year at 6% growth in core income. I think when you guys gave that third-quarter year-to-date update, it was about 5%. Fourth quarter saw a bit of acceleration there. I guess, what drove that fourth-quarter acceleration, and how should we think about core income margins into FY2026?
Yeah, thanks, Jenny. I think in terms of that fourth quarter, there are a few things that kind of played through that, some slightly better insurance commissions than we'd expected. Also, just post-Go-Live, there were a few things where we were being relatively conservative. Once we did kind of find recs for the year, there were a few bits and pieces that we trued up, and it just gave us a little bit extra there. I think in the grand scheme of things, not particularly material over the full year.
Got it. Thanks, guys.
Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone. We'll pause a short moment for any final questions to register. Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Berrell for closing remarks.
Thanks, Ashley. Once again, thanks to everyone for joining the call this morning. We look forward to catching up with some of you over the coming days, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.