I would now like to hand the conference over to Ms. Lilli Rayner, Co-CEO. Please go ahead.
Thanks, Ryan. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining Propel's FY 2026 full year results briefing. It's a pleasure to present to you today alongside my fellow co-founder and Co-CEO, Fraser Henderson, and Propel CFO, Arash Noaeen. Before I start, we'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge client families who have farewelled loved ones, particularly those who have suffered a recent loss. We would also like to extend our thanks to Propel staff for their continued commitment to providing essential and caring funeral and related services to the communities we serve across Australia and New Zealand. In terms of the agenda for the presentation lodged with the ASX this morning, I'll summarize the FY 2026 results and then provide a brief overview of Propel's business. Arash will cover the financials in more detail.
Fraser will touch on industry trends, acquisitions, and make some concluding remarks, including in respect to the outlook, and then we'll take questions. Turning to slide six for a summary of the results. Revenue increased to AUD 226.6 million in FY 2026, within guidance on the back of a 1.1% increase in total funeral volumes. Comparable average revenue per funeral was circa 2% above FY 2025, noting that network average revenue per funeral was marginally below the prior year, impacted by recent acquisitions and Forex. Propel reported operating EBITDA of AUD 55.3 million, again within guidance, and operating NPAT of AUD 20.7 million. Cash flow conversion remains strong at over 100%.
From a capital management perspective, the board declared a final fully franked dividend of AUD 0.069 per share, resulting in total fully franked dividends of AUD 0.144 per share in connection with FY 2026, consistent with the prior year. Propel ended the year with a gearing ratio of circa 30%. Following the refinancing of its debt facilities earlier in the year, Propel's net leverage ratio was 2.2 x at year-end, and it currently has funding capacity of circa AUD 170 million, which will support Propel's acquisition-led growth strategy. Arash will provide further details on the company's financials shortly. In terms of growth, Propel expanded its network by six locations in FY 2026, and Propel has now deployed AUD 314 million on acquisitions since its IPO in 2017.
Fraser will provide an acquisition update and talk more on the company's outlook later in the presentation. Before he does, I will provide a brief overview of Propel's business. Turning to slide eight. This slide illustrates how Propel's network has evolved. Propel started with one funeral home in Queensland in 2013, and today it operates from 213 locations across Australia and New Zealand, including 42 cremation facilities and nine cemeteries. Of those 213 locations, the company owns 130, which are held at depreciated cost on the balance sheet at over AUD 250 million. Slide nine shows Propel's main operating brands in Australia and in New Zealand. Each brand has a distinct identity and is well known in their respective markets. Some have been around for many decades.
For example, in Tasmania, Millingtons has been operating in and around Hobart for over 100 years. In New Zealand, J Fraser & Sons has operated in Southland since the late 1800s. The dotted lines show the brands relating to acquisitions completed during and since FY 2026. These brands are an important part of the goodwill of each business. The charts on slide 10 illustrate Propel's track record since FY 2015. I will not go through each chart, but notwithstanding a period of earnings moderation in FY 2026, Propel has delivered growth across key metrics for over more than a decade. The chart on slide 11 shows Propel's average revenue per funeral since FY 2015, which has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 2.7%. In FY 2026, comparable average revenue per funeral was up 2% in constant currency. Turning to slide 12.
Cash conversion continues to be a key focus. As you can see from this chart, Propel's cash conversion has remained consistently high, averaging approximately 99% since FY 2015. In FY 2026, cash conversion remained strong at over 100%. The pie charts on slide 13 illustrate the diversified nature of Propel's revenue in FY 2026. The chart on the left shows Propel's country split, which was weighted approximately 75% to Australia and 25% to New Zealand. The chart in the middle of the slide shows Propel's regional metro split, which was weighted 53% to regional in FY 2026. Importantly, when we look at revenue by operating business on the right-hand side, this chart demonstrates the significant diversification of Propel's network, which consists of over 60 operating businesses across Australia and New Zealand. In summary, Propel is an essential service provider of scale with diversified and defensive revenue streams.
I am going to hand over to Arash, who will provide further detail on Propel's FY 2026 results.
Thanks, Lilli, and good morning, everyone. Today, I will cover five key areas. Firstly, I will provide an overview of Propel's full year results by an analysis of the income statement. Secondly, I will touch on the key drivers for revenue, operating earnings, and margin. Thirdly, I will provide an analysis of the cash flow statement. I will then touch on the balance sheet. Finally, I will wrap up with some commentary on capital management. Please turn to slide 15. In FY 2026, revenue increased to AUD 226.6 million within guidance and reflecting comparable average revenue per funeral growth of circa 2% on the prior year. Contributions from acquisitions, partially offset by unfavorable Forex impacts. Propel reported a gross margin of 69.8% with a comparable gross margin of 69.9%, 10 basis points above FY 2025. Operating costs were well maintained at 45% of revenue in line with the prior year.
Operating EBITDA was AUD 55.3 million within guidance and included a circa AUD 1 million unfavorable Forex impact. In terms of other items of note on the income statement, depreciation was up 2% on the prior year, reflecting acquisitions and property purchases made during FY 2026. Interest expense on the senior debt was in line with FY 2025, with the impact of higher drawn debt used to fund acquisitions and property purchases offset by a lower average effective interest rate following the refinancing of Propel's banking facilities earlier in the year. Operating NPAT was AUD 20.7 million, with an adjusted effective tax rate of 29.5%. The waterfall on slide 16 sets out the movement in revenue on the prior year.
The chart shows the full period impact of acquisitions made in FY 2025, the part period impact of acquisitions completed during FY 2026, Forex movements, and the organic performance of businesses held for the comparable period. As you can see from the comments on the bottom left of the slide, total funeral volumes increased 1.1%, and average revenue per funeral for the group was marginally below FY 2025, with the benefits of pricing being offset by Forex and acquisition impacts. It is noted that recent acquisitions generated below network average revenue per funeral. In terms of organic, on the center of this slide, comparable businesses reported funeral volumes circa 2% below the prior year and a circa 2% increase in average revenue per funeral, reflecting pricing impacts and funeral mix.
As you can see on the bottom right of this slide, the operating EBITDA margin was 24.4%, 0.5% below the prior year, primarily impacted by recent acquisitions and operating de-leverage. Comparable operating costs were 0.7% below FY 2025, reflecting, among other things, disciplined cost control. Moving to the cash flow statement on slide 17. Operating cash flows were AUD 54.9 million, with cash flow conversion strong at over 100%. In respect of investing activities, during the year, Propel deployed AUD 5.2 million in connection with acquisitions and AUD 1.3 million related to earn-out payments. Acquired seven freehold properties, four of which were previously leased, for total consideration of AUD 7.9 million, and incurred capital expenditure of circa AUD 10.4 million, with maintenance CapEx at 4.6% of revenue.
The financing activities during the year largely reflect the proceeds from senior debt to fund acquisitions and property purchases. Moving to slide 18, there are four main points of note on the balance sheet. One, as at 30 June 2026, Propel had net debt of AUD 151.2 million. Two, freehold properties owned by Propel are held at a depreciated cost of approximately AUD 252 million, representing circa 60% of Propel's market capitalization as at 30 June 2026. Three, prepaid contract funds total approximately AUD 83 million, which are largely invested with third-party friendly societies who primarily invest the funds in cash and fixed interest. During the year, prepaid contracts that turn at-need account for less than 10% of the group's funeral volumes.
Finally, the movement in equity at the prior balance date related to a non-cash reduction in the foreign exchange reserve as a result of a greater than 10% strengthening of the Australian dollar against the New Zealand dollar. Turning to slide 19. In respect of capital management, Propel refinanced its debt facilities early in the year, extending the maturity date of its existing AUD 275 million debt facilities to October 2029, improving the pricing and entering into a new AUD 50 million revolving facility. Propel currently has available funding capacity of approximately AUD 170 million. The company remains comfortably in compliance with its debt covenants, reporting a net leverage measure of 2.2 x against a covenant limit of 5x .
Finally, Propel declared a fully franked dividend of AUD 0.144 per share in connection with FY 2026, in line with the prior year. I will now hand over to Fraser, who will, among other things, cover industry trends and acquisitions before making some concluding remarks in respect of the outlook.
Thanks, Arash, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide 21. This slide shows that the funeral industry remains highly fragmented in both Australia and New Zealand, with Propel the second largest operator in both countries. Propel's estimated combined Australia/New Zealand market share is circa 10%, having performed close to 23,000 funerals in FY 2026. Significant consolidation runway remains, with more than 500 businesses still independently owned by entities other than Propel and the largest operator. During and since the end of FY 2026, Propel completed the acquisition of five businesses and has now deployed approximately AUD 314 million on acquisitions since its IPO in FY 2018, averaging circa AUD 37 million per year. Propel continues to explore other potential acquisition opportunities, with multiple vendor discussions continuing. However, the timing of any future acquisitions, as you would appreciate, is unknown.
Some of you may be familiar with the graphs on slide 22, which show that the number of deaths is forecast to both increase and accelerate in Australia and New Zealand as the baby boomers approach and exceed the median age of death. Noting that the eldest of the baby boomer generation reach the median age of death next year and the year after, depending on their gender. Death volumes in Australia and New Zealand are forecast to increase by 2.8% per annum from an historical average of 1.1% per annum. Death volumes are the most significant driver of revenue in the death care industry, and few industries have the benefit of the certainty of this sort of tailwind. However, death volume growth is not necessarily linear and can fluctuate from time to time. Slide 22 also lists some of the evolving market trends the industry is experiencing.
I won't go through all of these, but by way of example, the majority of client families choose a full-service funeral despite no service, no attendance offerings being available. Lower value, digitally led competitors remain active, especially in metropolitan markets, noting that these providers are largely reliant on third parties for both infrastructure and resources, and there is evidence of recent material price increases by those providers. Client families are increasingly researching providers online, and whilst the funeral industry is not immune from digitization, including AI, the human element of a funeral remains central to the overall experience of client families. Turning to slide 23. This slide summarizes some of the ways Propel is positioning itself to capture growth against the favorable long-term demand backdrop I've just talked about.
Inorganically, our acquisition-led growth strategy is underpinned by a highly fragmented industry, a strong pipeline with relationships developed, some over many years. Our position as trusted partner and preferred succession partner for many vendors and Propel's available funding capacity. From an organic perspective, key focuses are digital marketing and website enhancement, sharpening lead generation and conversion, and deepening grassroots community engagement. Propel businesses are also seeking to reinforce the value of a funeral among their communities, as well as enhancing their product offerings and benefiting from digitization efficiencies. As a business, Propel is also selectively expanding some of its metro brands to other areas, which can leverage off existing infrastructure, including company-owned cremation facilities. Meanwhile, we continue to focus on BAU matters such as procurement initiatives, network efficiency, cost discipline, and asset utilization. Moving to slide 25, which provides an investment summary overview.
Propel is the number two provider in the Australian and New Zealand funeral industry and owns assets and infrastructure that are difficult to replicate. It operates from over 210 locations including 130 owned properties, which are valued at depreciated costs of over AUD 250 million. Propel operates in a highly fragmented and essential service industry and stands to benefit from favorable demographic tailwinds. Propel is well-funded to continue its acquisition-led growth strategy and with a management team and non-executive directors together owning a substantial interest in the company, this ensures a strong alignment with fellow shareholders. In terms of the outlook, please turn to slide 26. Propel expects to benefit from favorable demographics in both Australia and New Zealand, a strong funding position and acquisitions completed to date.
Other potential future acquisitions in what remains a highly fragmented industry, noting that negotiations with multiple vendors are continuing regarding the opportunity to join Propel's growing network. The company intends to provide an FY 2027 trading update at the AGM in November, but with respect to the month of July 2026, Propel generated revenue of circa AUD 21.5 million, benefiting from comparable average revenue per funeral growth exceeding 3%, which is above the company's long-term CAGR , and resilient funeral volumes, despite a benign winter flu season and a material contraction in industry death volumes, which is expected to be temporary. Before I hand back to the moderator for questions, I want to echo Lilli's earlier comments and thank our client families for entrusting the funeral homes and the Propel network at what often is a very difficult time.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank all our staff for their ongoing dedication to the communities we serve. Finally, I want to recognize Brian Scullin's retirement from the Board earlier today. We were extremely fortunate when he agreed to join Propel as Chair when Propel was little more than an idea on a whiteboard. Lilli, Arash, and I have learned much from Brian over the last 14 or so years, and we wish him well in his retirement. With that, I will now hand back to the moderator to invite 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 are on a speakerphone, please pick up your handset to ask a question. Your first question comes from Christian Waked from Jarden. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. First question on the July trading update. It implies flat year-on-year revenue. Given prices are up 3% and FX is a 3% headwind, is it fair to assume like-for-like volumes are down 4% for the month?
Hi, Christian. Thanks for your question. I think you did summarize that well in terms of the revenue for July. We disclosed AUD 21.5 million, but obviously that included that AUD 600,000 FX headwind. If you back that out, revenue would have been close to AUD 22 million. What we also disclosed was that there was a material contraction in industry death volumes based on the BDM data in Australia, and certainly Propel wasn't immune from that contraction. I think that's an important point to point out. Obviously July is an important month for the industry as well. From an average revenue per funeral perspective, obviously that ticked up above 3% in July. That was pleasing from our perspective. We think we will give more color on FY 2027 trading as we get to the AGM and went through that busier winter and early spring trading period.
Yeah. Just to follow up on that, on the market volume specifically, from what we are seeing is the market appears to be down more like 8%-10% in July. Are you back to winning share in July? I guess what has changed in July vs prior halves when there has been implied share loss?
Yeah. The contraction in July from an industry perspective was material as you point out. But it is four weeks of trading, Christian, so I do not think we want to get hung up on super short periods of time, given the industry volumes do oscillate. So I do not think you can glean anything meaningful into market share losses or gains in a four-week trading period.
Yeah. Understood. Just one last question. I guess CapEx growth in FY 2026 was very well controlled. If volumes were tougher again in FY 2027, could you replicate the 2% cost growth of FY 2026, or is there no more room for efficiencies?
Thanks, Christian. I will take that. Look, I think, yeah, we have managed the cost quite well. I think it will depend partly on the volume growth, but I think being below PCP with some of the acquisition impacts will be difficult. But I think we can still manage the cost well.
Yeah. Understood. Thank you for taking my questions.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Elizabeth Miliatis from Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Good morning, and thanks for taking my questions. The first one's just around acquisitions. Obviously, it sounds like still a key part of the strategy, and you've got a great balance sheet to support that. You haven't really made very material acquisitions since calendar year 2023. Just curious, what the pipeline's looking like. Are we hopefully nearing closer to a period of more acquisitions coming through? Any color would be great. Thank you.
Hi, Elizabeth. Thanks for the question. Yeah. Hopefully we are. I think the team is busy, and we have got a number of conversations at various stages of those negotiations to bring acquisition opportunities to the table. We still remain confident about the pipeline. I think you talk about scale, and some of those opportunities in the pipeline are large multi-brand multi-location opportunities. Yeah, I think it would have been good to announce some today, but I think there is nothing to disclose as of this morning, but the pipeline remains robust.
Okay, got it. That is really clear. Just if I can touch on the winter, sort of the weak winter period, and obviously, not great for volumes. Is that typically a bit of a catch-up period, where if there is a weaker winter and a weak flu season, maybe six or 12 months, there is a bit of a catch-up, or it might take a few years to roll through? Thank you.
Yeah. Look, if you think about it, people generally die because they are older, Elizabeth. There is an event that might trigger it, but it is because people are getting older. So although flu is sort of a precursor to that, I think if you have not died this winter, then you are more likely to die in the coming season. So when there is a sort of pullback of death volumes, you would expect all other things being equal, so there will be a catch-up in due course.
Okay. Thank you.
No worry.
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. Your next question comes from Chami Ratnapala from Bell Potter Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, Lilli, Fraser, and Arash. Thanks for taking my questions. I think the first one would be just on the volume of the trading update that you have provided for the month of July or more thinking about where the industry is at the moment. Could you talk to the differences in Australia vs Zealand?
In terms of FY 2026, Chami, or the July trading, just to clarify?
More June into July, I mean, underlying current trading conditions?
Okay. From a late FY 2026 perspective, I think it is fair to say volumes in New Zealand were slightly stronger than in Australia. From a July perspective, we do not have any industry information on New Zealand at this point in time for early FY 2027. The stats that we referred to was the BDM stats, which are available for the Eastern states of Australia. I think you know, Chami, that roughly makes up about 80% of deaths in Australia, roughly. So it is a good indicator of what is going on across the country. But that is the only industry data that we have got. There is obviously no ABS data out north. That is NZD data out to July.
Perfect. Thanks for that, Lilli. The second question is just on employment costs or overall cost base. For the second half, it looks pleasing, the employment costs seem to be down around 2%. Is that more an adjustment in the cost base? Or in other words, what is the ability in the fixed cost base to adjust to a flat or low-revenue environment?
Thanks, Chami. Sorry, on the second half, what did you mention on the employment costs?
I think the employment costs seem to be down around 2% in the second half, Arash?
Yeah.
Just in terms of the ability of the fixed cost base to sort of navigate this flat revenue environment.
Yeah. I mean, on the employment costs, it's probably important to note two things. One, that we do have probably roughly 30% of our headcount is casuals. So there's flex there, which does move with volume movements. The second part is probably around the natural cushioning of certain incentives. So, depending on results, that also cushions the result. But on the other side, has other impacts. I think it's usually reasonable to assume the cost base to grow somewhere in line with our pricing. That's usually what we tend to guide for, or if there's inflation. In terms of levers, it does depend on the volume dynamics, to be honest. So, we've maintained it pretty well for the last two years, and I think we can continue to do that going forward.
Perfect. Thanks for that. Maybe the third one or the last one would be just on supply price increases. How much would that be as an offset, or could you talk to the 3% into the start of FY 2027 vs the 2% that you did in the average revenue per funeral and the incremental benefit? Or where are you at in terms of FY 2027 from what you're seeing in supply price increases coming through?
Chami, I will take the average revenue, and then maybe Arash can look into the cost side of things for 2027. Chami, you are right, and obviously average revenue per funeral is a function of four main things: pricing, funeral mix, FX, and the impacts of acquisitions, with the majority being influenced by price. I think you can assume that our price increases that went in on 1 July had regard to inflation forecasts, but there is also a slight mix impact to that as well. Arash, can you just touch on the cost side?
Yeah. In terms of supply increases, not too dissimilar to the, probably the levels, very broadly in CPI in terms of just over 3%. I think that is probably reasonable at that level. There are still some opportunities that we do have in terms of managing those costs.
Arash, the only other thing I would point out, Chami, on that is our biggest cost base is obviously the employment side, as we have talked about many times before. Wages inflation is running at just over 3%. I think it is fair to assume that that assumption makes sense given the salary increases that our staff received on July.
Perfect. Thank you very much for taking my questions, team.
No problem.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand back to Mr. Henderson for closing remarks.
Thank you, everyone, for joining today's call. Lilli, Arash, and I look forward to catching up with some of you over the coming days and providing further updates on the company's progress in due course. With that, I'll bring today's call to a close.
Thank you. That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.