Australia's Ampol profit slumps but resilient despite weather hits
Shares of the fuel retailer drifted within tight ranges in early trade, and were down 0.2% at A$29.08 as of 0115 GMT, after rising 0.7% earlier in the session. That compared with a largely flat broader ASX 200 benchmark index (.AXJO), opens new tab.
The company said Lytton's refinery margins started the second half strongly, with July being $9.95 per barrel, up from $7.44 per barrel in the first half.
Planned maintenance shutdowns and production losses from a cyclone disrupted operations, while weak Singapore refining margins pressured profitability at its Queensland refinery.
The refinery's underlying operating earnings shrank substantially to A$1.1 million ($716,650.00), from A$89.5 million a year ago, while earnings from its fuel and infrastructure division also nearly halved to A$118.3 million.
As a result, the company's net profit after tax from continuing operations for the six months ended June 30 fell to A$180.2 million on a replacement-cost basis, 23% lower than A$233.7 million a year ago, but beating the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$165.6 million.
Ampol declared an interim dividend of 40 Australian cents per share, lower than 60 Australian cents per share paid out a year ago.
The fuel retailer flagged that trends for its fuel and infrastructure division, excluding Lytton, convenience retail and New Zealand segments are expected to largely continue from the first half.
"We don't expect material consensus estimate changes, which will allow the market to focus on upside from the impending EG Group acquisition," Jefferies analysts wrote.
The company announced last week it would buy British fuel station operator EG Group's local unit, EG Australia, for a total of A$1.1 billion.
($1 = 1.5349 Australian dollars)
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The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
Air Canada strikes: Passenger rights as the shutdown continues
At least half-a-million passengers have been hit by Air Canada flight cancellations as hostilities between the carrier and cabin crew continue. British travellers are paying thousands of pounds extra to get home by alternative means. In response to a strike call by members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Canadian national airline started grounded flights on Thursday 14 August. By Saturday 16 August Air Canada had imposed ' a complete cessation of flying '. The government then ordered cabin crew to return to work and accept binding arbitration. CUPE's national secretary and treasurer, Candace Rennick, condemned 'the government's decision to intervene on behalf of an already wildly profitable employer, while a predominantly female workforce fights tooth and nail for a path out of poverty'. Initially Air Canada said flights would start to resume at 2pm on Sunday 17 August. That plan was abandoned because flight attendants refused to return to work. Air Canada says the union 'illegally directed its flight attendant members' to defy the order. The carrier now says it intends to resume flying on the evening of Monday 18 August. But the indications are that chaos will continue for days more. These are the key questions and answers. What is the dispute about? Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees working as cabin crew for the airline are embroiled in a long and bitter pay dispute. The union says it is fighting 'the abuse of unpaid work and poverty wages for flight attendants'. Cabin crew voted 99.7 per cent in favour of striking for better pay as well as an assurance of pay while on duty on the ground. CUPE says: 'Unpaid work is an unfair practice that pervades nearly the entire airline sector.' Air Canada says it has offered 'a 38 per cent total compensation increase over four years' and insists arbitration is the fairest solution to the dispute. But the union says: 'With respect to Air Canada's latest offer: it is below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage.' Cancellations affect passengers on both Air Canada and its low-cost subsidiary, Rouge. But Air Canada Express, the regional carrier, is continuing operations as normal. How is it affecting passengers? Air Canada flies about 130,000 passengers per day in August – more than 5,000 of them to or from the UK. The airline's main British airport is London Heathrow, with additional flights to and from Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh. Key Canadian destinations include Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. Currently Air Canada says all four flights from Toronto to London Heathrow due out on Monday evening will depart on time. The corresponding four departures from Heathrow back to Canada's largest city on Tuesday are also shown as operating. But it seems unlikely that they will go ahead. The Independent calculates that so far over half-a-million passengers have had their flights cancelled. In addition, many thousands of UK travellers are stranded in Canada due to earlier cancellations. What is Air Canada doing for passengers? The carrier says: 'Customers will be notified of alternative travel options that are identified for them. However, given other carriers are already very full due to the summer travel peak, securing such capacity will take time and, in many cases, will not be immediately possible.' Air Canada says it 'has made arrangements with other Canadian and foreign carriers to provide customers alternative travel options to the extent possible'. But the evidence suggests that the airline is not finding solutions. One group of passengers – the Dearing and Robinson families from East Yorkshire – were booked to fly from Calgary to London Heathrow on Friday evening. After their flight was cancelled they were told: 'We're very sorry but after searching for flights on over 120 airlines for three days before and after your cancelled flights, we've been unable to rebook you.' As they told The Independent 's daily travel podcast, they were offered a refund. It took about five minutes for them to find alternative flights, though this was for a complicated journey via Seattle at a fare double what they originally paid. What are my rights if my flight is cancelled? It all depends where you were due to start. From the UK or EU If your flight was due to start in the UK or EU, and is cancelled, Air Canada must find an alternative way to get you to your destination as close to the original timings as possible. The obvious transatlantic replacement would be on British Airways, Air Transat or WestJet between the UK and Canada, if seats are available. But it is more likely that travel from the UK to Canada will be via the US – which requires you to go through the onerous business of getting an Esta permit and clearing the US frontier for the hour or two you will be spending there between flights. While passengers are waiting to be flown where they need to be, they can expect to be provided with hotel accommodation and meals if necessary. From Canada – or elsewhere outside Europe, such as the US If your journey begins in Canada, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) apply. For cancellations that are the airline's responsibility, travellers would be entitled to compensation as well as hotels and meals as necessary. But unlike European air passengers' rights rules, the Canadian regulations excuse airlines a duty of care if the cause of disruption is outside its control. According to the APPR, 'a labour disruption within the carrier' is regarded as beyond an airline's control. So there is no entitlement to care. Air Canada is telling many travellers that they should cancel and take a refund – leaving them high and dry to find and pay for a replacement flight. From the US and elsewhere, passengers have no significant rights. I am on a package holiday – does that make a difference? Yes. Under the Package Travel Regulations, the tour operator (the firm that put together the holiday) is responsible for the actions of the airlines it uses. The rules stipulate: 'If any of the travel services are not performed in accordance with the package travel contract, the organiser must remedy the lack of conformity'. In the context of the Air Canada dispute, that would mean finding alternative flights and paying for hotels while travellers are waiting. The only get-outs are if finding alternative flights is impossible or 'entails disproportionate costs'. Neither appears to cover this case, unless only business-class seats costing many thousands of pounds were available. Could travel insurance help? For additional expenses incurred as a result of the strike that cannot be covered by anyone else, you can claim on travel insurance. But you would be expected to approach the airline first before claiming for out-of-pocket costs. Will I get compensation? Possibly for a flight leaving from a UK airport. Under British air passengers' rights rules, there is no consensus that industrial action entitles travellers whose flights are cancelled to claim cash compensation. All you can do is try. Canada's APPR holds that strikes are outside Air Canada's control and no compensation is payable. How long will this go on? It is difficult to say. Air Canada is losing an estimated C$50m (£27m) per day in revenue while the strike continues. It is also sustaining substantial reputational damage. The airline hopes cabin crew will return to work over the next few days. Even if that happens – and the fury among union members suggests it may not – it will be days before the operation is back on track.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Spain's party island Ibiza also suffers housing crunch as rents soar
Tourists sleep at the Figueretas beach during the sunrise in Ibiza, Spain, August 31, 2025. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Photography and reporting by Nacho Doce Reporting and writing by David Latona Filed: August 18, 2025, 08 a.m. GMT It's another night, another party at a hotel in Ibiza. The international clientele dances to the house beat while laser lights reflect on the curvy swimming pool and on a sea of sunglasses worn after dark at the open-air venue. Many party-goers wear all-white; some show signs of altered perception. Ask those queuing outside this place and some of the Spanish Mediterranean island's legendary nightclubs and they'll say they're spending a lot but the experience is worth it. However, behind Ibiza's clubbing scene and beaches a housing crisis has forced many locals and seasonal workers to share cramped apartments, commute from off the island or stay in tents and motorhomes in unauthorised encampments. Ibiza's problems reflect a broader issue in Spain, where a lack of affordable housing in cities and popular coastal destinations has sparked protests to demand rent controls and denounce overtourism. Activists accuse landlords of preferring short-term tourist lets to less-profitable extended leases. In Ibiza, nearly 800 people have resorted to living in makeshift settlements, according to local authorities' figures from last year, which don't include an estimated 200 who lived in shacks, tents and vans at the 'Can Rovi 2' camp before being evicted last month. 'The island is paradise, the most beautiful place I've ever seen. But it has a flipside,' said Jeronimo Diana, a 50-year-old water technician from Argentina who stayed at Can Rovi 2. A normal monthly rent would swallow most of his 1,800-euro salary, Diana said. Ibiza's average rents peaked at 33.7 euros per square metre in July last year, a 23% rise from July 2023, data from property website Idealista shows. That translates to about 1,500 euros ($1,756) for a small one-bedroom apartment. Spain's national minimum wage is 1,381 euros per month. In one possible knock-on effect, Ibiza is seeing a growing shortage of teachers and health workers, according to regional government data. Some public servants commute from neighbouring Balearic islands Menorca and Mallorca. Maria Jose Tejero, a 24-year-old emergency medical technician, said she shares a small flat with two housemates to make ends meet because the rent is twice her salary. Crewing an ambulance at night sometimes makes her feel 'like a babysitter', Tejero said. 'People come here, drink, take drugs and think life's just a party when that life can also end.' Deflated balloons litter a bar-lined street in popular tourist town Sant Antoni. Dealers discreetly inflate the balloons with nitrous oxide - laughing gas - selling the brief high for 5 euros a pop. Lia Romero, a 28-year-old nurse from Spain's Canary Islands who sometimes moonlights as a dancer at Ibiza's club Amnesia, said she also shares a flat and can't afford bar cover charges or dining out. 'Ibiza is all about posturing and displays of wealth,' she said, 'leaving no room for ordinary people.' According to the regional statistics institute, Ibiza received 3.28 million tourists in 2024, 76% from outside Spain, while the island's resident population reached a record 161,485. Jonathan Ariza, a mechanic and construction worker from Colombia who said he is seeking political asylum in Spain, lives in a trailer near the island's main hospital. 'As long as tourists keep coming, there'll be people willing to live in precarious conditions to be employed,' he said. Alejandra, a 31-year-old Colombian with a residence permit, lives in a shelter managed by Catholic charity Caritas after failing to secure a rental. She said she slept in a tent with her 3-year-old son David until they were evicted. Alejandra said she had a new hotel job and wanted to move out of the shelter, but worried about losing work 'for being slow' as she raced to log the Social Security contributions required to renew her permit. Social workers Gustavo Gomez and Belen Torres, who run the Caritas shelter, said landlords routinely discriminate against families with children and evict tenants to replace them with tourists during the more lucrative summer months. Local authorities are cracking down on illegal tourist rentals, imposing fines that start at 40,001 euros on those who post them. Vacation rental companies have agreed to automatically withdraw advertisements officials deem illegal instead of waiting for a slower judicial ruling, said Ibiza Council Vice-President Mariano Juan of the conservative People's Party, which governs the wider Balearic region. In Juan's view, high demand and limited buildable land result in 'absolutely illogical' rent prices on Ibiza. At a national level, the centre-left government has pledged to triple the state housing budget and speed construction of social housing. But a 2023 law that introduced some rent controls has seen limited success, as many opposition-controlled regions decline to apply the rules given they have a high level of autonomy in housing policy. National landlord lobby ASVAL rejects rent controls, arguing they shrink supply and raise prices. It says the best ways to bring down rents are public incentives and more construction. Saray Benito, 32, said work as a contortionist and torch juggler at the famous Cafe del Mar is scarce in winter. Over 12 years in Ibiza, she said she has had to move 20 times and sometimes sleep on balconies. Italian drag performer Eva Cavallini, who is famous in the LGBTQ-friendly La Virgen district near Ibiza Town's port, lamented that soaring travel and accommodation costs dissuade other artists from visiting. 'Ten years ago, we were around 200. Now it's just me - the only survivor here. If things keep going this way, the island is finished.' The Wider Image Photography and reporting: Nacho Doce Reporting and writing: David Latona Additional reporting: Horaci Garcia Photo editing: Marta Montaña and Maye-E Wong Design: Marta Montaña Text editing: Frances Kerry LICENSE THIS STORY Follow Reuters
Time Out
2 hours ago
- Time Out
All the European airport, airline and transport strikes to watch out for right now
It's a tough time to be working in the aviation industry. Faced with staff shortages and huge levels of disruption, many workers at airlines and airports are facing long, stressful hours and poor working conditions. And, thanks to the cost of living crisis, loads of them are doing it all for lower wages, too. Needless to say, it's no wonder that so many staff at airports and airlines have been going on strike. From Italy and Belgium to Greece and France, airports across Europe have seen thousands of flights delayed and cancelled by industrial action. Strikes can, of course, have a serious impact on your holiday, so it's best to be as informed about them as possible. Read on for our guide to who's going on strike in Europe right now, where and when those strikes will happen – and whether you need to worry about them. Airport strikes in Portugal Over each weekend in August, aircraft servicing, baggage handling and check-in teams are staging industrial action to protest their low pay, unpaid night shifts and parking disputes following the takeover of Groundforce ops by a British-owned company Menzies Aviation. Lisbon, Faro, Porto, Madeira, Porto Santo and the Azores could all be affected, and the UK FCDO has issued warnings for delays on the following dates: August 15-18, 22-25, and August 29-September 1. The first weekend of disruption saw more than 70 flights scrapped at Lisbon airport, and long delays across everywhere affected, according to euronews. Strikes at London Gatwick Airport From August 22-26 and August 29-September 2, baggage screeners at this UK airport are set to strike over pay, and all passengers should expect at least some delays. Spain airport strikes Airports across Spain are set to be affected by strikes over labour rights by Azul Handling baggage staff. It's part of the Ryanair Group and handles the bags for the majority of the operators flights, and the affected times are as follows: from 5am-9am, 12pm-3pm and 9pm-11.59pm on August 15, 16 and 17 and following Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of 2025. The affected airports, according to Which?, are: Alicante, Barcelona, Girona, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Madrid, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tenerife South and Valencia. What happens if your airline goes on strike? If strikes cause your flight to be delayed or cancelled, the airline is usually obliged to help you and/or provide compensation. However, this often depends on the conditions of your airline – some airlines won't cover strikes out of their control, such as airport or baggage handler strikes. Your compensation also depends on the extent of your travel insurance. These should both be easily accessed on either your airline or insurer's website. If you book your flight already knowing that a strike is set to take place (ie. it's already been announced by the union), you are exceptionally unlikely to receive compensation. Before you book, be sure to check for any strike dates not just at your intended airline but also at departure and arrival airports. Of course, it's worth bearing in mind that the threat of a strike is exactly that: a threat. Strikes are primarily used as bargaining chips in negotiations between unions and employers, so there's always the chance that both sides will come to an agreement before one actually takes place. In any case, if your journey involves any of the above airlines, destinations and dates, be sure to keep an eye on your flight status and prepare for a more disrupted journey than expected.
