Is Managing Director Cameron Coleman this morning. We will have some time for Q&A of the management team. There will be a choice of two options. First, research analysts will be able to raise your hand should you wish to ask a verbal question of the management team, or we will also take written submitted questions via the Q&A function at the bottom of your screen throughout today's presentation. We will endeavor to get to the majority of questions asked, in some cases, combining questions on the same or similar topic. With that, I will pass it over to you, Cameron.
Okay. Thanks, Sam, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our full year results presentation for FY 2026. As Sam pointed out, I am here today with Fergus Hume, our CFO, and Karen Brown, our General Counsel and Company Secretary. In short, FY 2026 has been a great year for Wagners. The business has delivered an improved result on the prior period with strong growth across each of our key businesses. Our group revenue for the year was just over AUD 500 million, compared to AUD 431 million last year, with strong activity across the Construction Materials business and continued growth in Composite Fibre Technologies. Improved margins across all businesses, Construction Materials, CFT, and Project Services delivered an operating EBIT result of AUD 67.2 million.
That reflects a 53% increase on last year, where the operating EBIT was AUD 41.8 million. The result was driven by strong market conditions that we are currently operating in, which has supported increased volumes and pricing, the increased utilization of assets across the group, along with good operating discipline. Net profit after tax for the year was AUD 40.5 million, significantly higher than the corresponding period, which was AUD 22.7 million. The strong operating cash flow generation has enabled us to fund a number of CapEx projects that will result in expanded capacity and operational efficiencies, which Fergus will go through shortly.
While the CapEx spend for the year at AUD 51.1 million was significantly higher than in the prior year, the improved earnings, together with funds raised through the placement earlier in the year, have enabled us to reduce our net debt to AUD 800,000. A significant reduction from the AUD 34 million at the end of FY 2025. Given the performance, the board have declared a full-year dividend for FY 2026 of AUD 0.05 per share. We will now have a look at each of the operating segments, starting with Construction Materials, which has once again delivered strong results, generating revenue of AUD 328 million, which represents 28% growth on the prior year. The market for Construction Materials in FY 2026 has been particularly good.
The demand has certainly increased on the prior year, with volumes up across each of the businesses. The increased volumes together with increased selling prices and operational efficiencies, have meant we have experienced good increase in margins, delivering an EBIT result for Construction Materials of AUD 56 million. In cement, volumes increased 11% on the prior year, which supported revenue growth of 14%. The pleasing result was the increase in cement volumes required for our own concrete batching plant network, which was a 67% increase on the p rior year. With more Wagners Concrete Plants to be commissioned in the near future and the buoyant market activity, this percentage will continue to improve. Margins also improved slightly due to better plant utilization and increased volumes, some pricing improvement, and operational efficiencies.
With new plants coming online in FY2026, improved performance from the current plants and a general increase in concrete demand in Southeast Queensland, our concrete volumes increased 55% on the prior year, delivering a 66% increase in revenue. There has been continued improvement in selling prices, and together with good operating discipline, the business delivered improved margins and resulting EBIT. The growth in the concrete business adds significant value across the group through our vertically integrated supply chain model. As new plants come online and the concrete volumes improve, so does the performance of cement, quarry, and transport businesses. We have added two new plants to the concrete plant network during FY2026, being Slacks Creek and Wulkuraka. We commenced the development of a new plant at Caboolture, which will open in the first half of this year.
We have got a number of other sites in various stages of development for commissioning over the next few years. The quarries business also delivered improved performance on the back of a 22% increase in volumes. The prior invest ment in capacity has enabled the business to service this rising demand. The increase in volumes together with operating efficiency improv ements, resulted in a 25% increase in revenue and a 5% increase in the EBIT margin. Our Composite Fibre Technologies segment has delivered another strong result with revenue growth of 38%, achieving a revenue result of AUD 93.4 million for FY2026. Increasing demand for composite products is translating into improved margins as the volumes grow. The business delivered an EBIT result of AUD 18.1 million, which is up AUD 8.8 million on last year.
In Australia and New Zealand, the demand for utility infrastructure remained extremely strong for the year. The business delivered a 15% increase in crossarm sales compared to FY2025, and a 200% increase in poles compared to the prior year. The increased volume is generating manufacturing efficiencies, delivering improved margins. With the machines manufacturing these product lines well utilized, capacity remains a key focus for the business as demand is expected to continue to grow. In addition to the strong demand for utility products throughout the year, the pedestrian infrastructure segment of the business continued to deliver good results with targeted project selection, driving improved margins from more than 300 projects that we executed throughout the year. FY2026 has also been a better year for the US CFT business.
We experienced good growth in revenue, particularly from the pedestrian infrastructure projects, and these have been well executed at improved margins. Through the year, there was an increase in demand for marine piles. An initial order was also received for power poles from a Californian electricity ne twork. This has been a very positive step for the business, and we see poles as a significant opportunity in the U.S. A pultrusion machine that is capable of producing poles and marine piles was manufactured during FY2026 and is currently being shipped to Texas to be commissioned later this year. This will both increase production capacity generally and enable the business to service the pole market from product manufactured locally as opposed to Australia, which will drive higher margins on this pr oduct line in the U.S.
Moving on to the Project Services business, there was a decline compared to the prior year in our revenue, which we anticipated given the completion of two haulage projects. However, it was really pleasing to see the business deliver an improved EBIT result of AUD 8.1 million, which reflects a much more profitable mix of project work. In our bulk haulage business, two project contracts were renewed for a further five years on much more favorable terms. These contracts, together with the initial benefits of the fleet renewal program, which reduces repair and maintenance expenses, delivered a 2% expansion in the EBIT margin. There were two concrete projects completed in FY 2026, which contributed positively to the Project Services result.
We have recently mobilized three mobile concrete plants to a new project, which will be delivered over the next 12 months. There was very little revenue generated in our precast business in FY 2026, as we really focused on establishing the new facility preparing for future projects. The business delivered a small loss for the year as we anticipated. This Project Services business remains well-positioned to respond to project opportunities as they arise, and business development activities continued dur ing the period in pursuit of a number of projects both in Australia and internationally. That is a bit of a summary on each of the segments for 2026. I will now let Ferg take you through the balance sheet and the cash flow.
Thanks, Cam. Our working capital has increased by AUD 2.1 million, mainly due to increase d trade receivables and trade payables. These two items have increased compared to June 2025 as a result of significantly higher volumes in the Construction Materials business, especially cement, concrete, and quarries. These businesses all achieved record or near record volumes in the month of June 2026. The business had a net debt position of AUD 0.8 million at the end of June 2026, a AUD 33.2 million improvement from the net debt position of AUD 34 million at the end of June 2025. Improved operating results, as explained by Cam, have funded the increased capital and tax payments during the period.
The successful placement in September 2025, securing AUD 30 million from both existing and new institutional investors, together with the improving operating results, provide significant undrawn debt facilities, meaning we are well-placed for growth opportunities, including the ongoing expansion of the concrete plant network, increased production capacity in the CFT business, expanded storage capacity in cement, and expansion of the quarry network. We look at the cash flow statement. Good cash conversion from the operating results, together with reduced interest costs, partially offset by increased tax payments, has resulted in good operating cash flows. The increased capital expenditure in this period has mainly been on growth, focusing on concrete plant network expansion, increased manufacturing capacity for the CFT business, and capacity improvements in cement and quarries.
The second half also saw increased spend on renewal of transport projects and materials transport vehicles and mobile equipment in concrete operations, engineering solutions, and quarry operations. The company carried out a successful placement in September 2025, and these funds will be deployed on the expansion of the concrete plant network and growth in the quarries and CFT businesses. The full year dividend was paid in the first half of this year. Pass back to you, Cameron.
Right. Thanks, Fergus. I'd like to move on now and have a look at the outlook for FY 2027 and beyond. The market growth we've experienced in FY 2026 is expected to continue. Our assets, particularly in the Construction Materials segment, are well-placed to service this growth, which we expect will come from Olympic and other infrastructure requirements, and strong residential housing sector, and continued growth generally that we expect in South East Queensland. Regardless of what project or construction opportunities we play a role in, we expect an increase in demand for our products and therefore volume growth. Cement volumes should increase with the overall increase in market demand. However, the most significant increase will come from Wagners Concrete Plants as our network expands.
We'll also be investing in capacity and efficiency at the Pinkenba Cement Plant to service the volume growth expected. The cement business will, however, have some challenges that it will need to work through FY 2027, with recent global events having an impact on some of our input costs, particularly clinker and shipping. Our concrete plant network will be expanded by more plants and capacity will be increased at some of our existing plants, both in the short and long term, all driving volume growth. Our concrete plant strategy to expand our South East Queensland concrete plant network will remain a key focus given the value that it generates right across the group. We will also continue to look for sites for further plants that align with the expansion strategy and deliver value to the network.
We also expect further expansion in concrete margins as utilization of plants improve with increasing volumes and strong market conditions. Quarry margins should also improve as a result of increased volumes expected and stronger market conditions. We will also continue to seek opportunities to expand our quarry network through the development of new quarry sites. There are a number of greenfield sites we are currently in various stages of development and investigation on. These sites will ensure security of aggregate supply for our batch plant network, as well as supply to the broader general market. With the increase in construction expected and the positive contribution our steel business has made in FY 2026, we do intend to expand the reinforcing steel business.
Given our current facilities at Toowoomba and Brisbane are nearing capacity, we feel the investment in this expansion is supported by the expected market demand. This will involve the acquisition of a new site and investment in more efficient plant and equipment for processing the steel. In CFT, we expect the Australia and New Zealand electricity networks to provide continued growth opportunities for both crossarms and poles. Increased volumes are expected from existing contract, particularly power poles. We also expect new markets to be established for Wagners composite poles, both domestically and internationally. There has been plenty of work done to date in exploring these opportunities with positive customer engagement in other states of Australia not currently serviced, along with international opportunities we are identifying in the U.S., New Zealand, the U.K., and Europe.
Our poles are already on trial in a number of those jurisdictions, so this is well advanced. We have also invested in plant capacity in Australia with two new machines expected to be operational in FY27, which will enable us to service this expected increase in demand for poles. Interest in composite pedestrian infrastructure is also expected to remain strong. With our composite product providing a durable alternative to traditional building materials, particularly in environments that are not favorable to traditional wood and steel structures. We also expect some margin improvement on these projects driven by the market conditions and operational efficiencies we are targeting in the business. Further improvement is expected in the U.S.A. business as well. There are a number of projects already secured for FY27, which will result in improved revenue.
As I mentioned earlier, we are investing in additional pultrusion machine focused on pole and marine pile production, which will provide significant opportunities for the business. As I said, it is currently being shipped from Australia and will be commissioned later this calendar year. We are also investing in the site over at Cresson in Texas with a new building and plant upgrades, which will deliver manufacturing efficiencies, further improving our margins. With this expected market growth and demand, capital investment is going to remain elevated to ensure we maintain the capacity and efficiency to service the expected long-term demand. I have called some of this out already.
However, in summary, the investment in FY27 will include increased capacity and efficiency at the Pinkenba Cement Plant, new concrete batch plants, quarry network expansion, additional CFT plant capacity, domestically and internationally, and bulk haulage plant and equipment assets to service the recently secured contracts. We do see that this is a strategic deployment of capital that will deliver longer term value to our shareholders. We will also continue to explore acquisition opportunities that provide value to our vertically integrated business model. In summary, FY26 has been a milestone year for Wagners, and we are extremely pleased with the momentum established across the business. The growth in the underlying Construction Materials segment and our CFT business has been extremely positive. Volumes have improved, market conditions have remained strong.
The excellent operating discipline demonstrated has resulted in an improvement in margins, delivering really positive earnings. We remain confident about what FY27 holds. While there will be some challenges that we have to navigate as the business grows, the outlook for Southeast Queensland is exciting, supported by a multi-year infrastructure pipeline that we are well-placed to participate in. The Wagners business is in a really good place, and we look forward to being able to deliver continued growth that is expected. That concludes the presentation or the formal part of the presentation. Thanks everyone for dialing in and listening, and we are, as always, happy to take any questions that anyone may have. Sam, I will hand back to you to run the Q&A, if that is all right.
Yeah, great. Thanks, Cam, and thanks, Fergus. As a reminder, research analysts can ask questions via raising your hand on Zoom so I can unmute your line. While all remaining audience can submit written questions via the Q&A function at the bottom of your screen. I would also just ask that the analysts please keep to two to three questions initially, and I can come back should you still have outstanding questions. The first question comes from Liam Schofield at Morgans. Liam, please go ahead.
Can you hear me there, Cam and Ferg?
We have got you now, Liam. Yeah.
Perfect. Congratulations on a great set of results. At the half year, you just talked about the production rate of poles. Can you just sort of comment on what the full year production rate was?
We sold just over 13,000 poles, I believe, in the year. We did consume some stock there, Liam. I think we achieved just under sort of 12,000 for the year, which is sort of getting close to where we've said our capacity is. We're continually working on these machines, so there's a lot of work in the R&D space about pulling things faster. We're sort of confident that we can get a little bit more out of these machines, given that what we did last year. What we have said in the past is it's 6,000 poles a machine and we pretty much achieved that during the year.
You've got one more machine to be commissioned in 2027, is that right?
We'll have two. We've got one that's in the throes of being commissioned right now. It's installed and I was walking around it the other day. We'll have another one which will come after we've finished the commissioning of the one in the U.S. So that'll be in the first or second quarter of next calendar year.
Yeah. Second question, just more broadly, as we look to contrast the outlook in Southeast Queensland with other states, are you guys seeing any impact to residential or commercial demand following the budget?
No. We haven't seen any impact at this point, Liam. It's widely talked about, but the level of activity for us in that space continues to grow. We stay very close to the civil contractors that are doing the development of the larger subdivisions around Southeast Queensland. We are confident that they've got at least 12 months forward work that is not showing any sign of slowing down. That's how we see it. I know there's some contrary views out there. However, we're seeing it grow and it's really a very busy space for us.
How does the rubber meet the road there in the expansion of the batch plant network? Is there areas where you're seeing demand that you're not currently fulfilling?
Yeah. We've got a real gap right now on the southwestern area of Brisbane where we're focused on securing a site and getting established. We've got another significant gap in the Rocklea area of Brisbane where we have secured a site and we're currently in the final stages of plant design for that site. The more immediate opportunity for us is in the Caboolture region towards the north of B risbane, where we called out in the presentation we should have a plant operating in the next few months. It's well and truly under construction. Civils are complete and the plant's currently being installed. So, we've got some areas that we can't currently service that are very busy areas that we look forward to getting established and playing a role in.
Perfect. Thanks for taking my questions.
Thanks very much, Liam. Next question comes from Max Andrews at Unified. Max, please go ahead. Can you unmute your line and go ahead, please?
Can you guys hear me now?
Yes.
Yeah, we've got you now, Max.
Sweet. Perfect. Congrats on the results, Cam and Ferg. Thanks, Sam. Just sticking on the Construction Materials segment, just what are your planned openings for FY 2027? How many are you planning to open in FY 2027, and just the timing of those, and what have you seen, I guess, with the ramp-up of your two most recent ones? Are they going quicker than expected?
Yep. The first part of your question, we will only have one additional plant provide any meaningful volume this year, and that volume will all be in the second half. That is the Caboolture plant. We will get it operational and commissioned before Christmas, and then it should start to service the market. I would hope by February, March, it is starting to make a positive contribution to the business. But it will be a drag as we get it commissioned and ramp it up and get into the market. In saying that, the second part of your question, the other two plants that we did open in FY 2026 are both now achieving our targeted volumes, and that happened a good few months quicker than we expected. So that is at Wulkuraka and at Slacks Creek.
Yeah, both achieving our targeted volumes and both ramped up quicker than we expected them to or anticipated they would.
Yep. Another one on CFT. Just the expectation around timing of those plants opening. You mentioned you have one installed now. You have got the one in the U.S. and potentially another one in Australia. Just the timing of that and how long do you think these plants will take to come to full production, and how that leads to the sales conversion?
Well, the first plant is, as Ferg called out, it's installed now, and we begin the commissioning phase on that. So in the next six weeks, it should be making conforming product, and ready to go. And we see a market there for the product. So that's the first one, about six weeks off fully commissioned. The second one is in the U.S., and we will send the commissioning team from Toowoomba over to Texas as soon as they get the machine delivered from the port into Cresson, where we're based. So we would hope we've got that machine running by mid-January, making conforming product. And then I would say roughly the end of March for the third machine, which is going to be installed in Toowoomba.
Excellent. Thanks, guys.
Well, thanks very much, Max. I think that's all we have for questions today. If there are any follow-ups, please feel free to email them through either to the company or myself, and we'll endeavor to get back to you. And maybe with that, I will just pass it back to you, Cam, for any closing comments.
Yeah. Thanks, Sam. As I said, we're very proud of the business. We're very proud of all the people that work in this business. Our success really hinges on the people that work at Wagners, and we've got a fantastic team out there doing a really, really good job. So, apart from that, I didn't have much else to add other than thanks very much for dialing in and hearing our presentation today. And we look forward to seeing many of the investors over the next two weeks as we get around on our roadshow. So thank you.
Thanks very much for joining today's Wagners full-year FY 2026 results call. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your day. Goodbye.