Latest news with #Ampol
The Age
6 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Firehouse pub sale to raze the roof as long-time owner sounds siren for last drinks
Motel Molly, at 2 Shepherd Street, is a boutique, near-beachfront accommodation hotel featuring 16 rooms. The previous owners, the Knox Group, opened the doors in the past few months of 2022 after a comprehensive refurbishment. In Sydney's eastern suburbs, the 42-room, six-storey boutique accommodation asset, UME Potts Point at 39A Elizabeth Bay Road, has been sold to Carpe Diem Partners, which recently bought the sister boutique site, UME Potts Point, for about $7.98 million. The private fund is run by former Goldman Sachs banker Simon Wheatley and will add to its growing portfolio, which has a focus on developing more assets in the burgeoning co-living property sector. The combined Mollymook and Potts Point sales were worth about $20 million. HTL Property's Andrew Jolliffe and Andrew Jackson advised on the sales, while Ray White Commercial also worked on the Potts Point deal. Ampol HQ Fuel refiner and retailer Ampol is raising cash through the sale of headquarters in the heart of Sydney's south with a price tag of about $100 million. The 9475-square-metre site at 29 Bourke Street, Alexandria, covers four levels with a six-year lease to the group. There is an architecturally designed atrium, advanced end-of-trip facilities and a six-star NABERS Energy rating. The Colliers team of Michael Crombie, Adam Woodward, James Mitchell and Gillian Kaplan are advising on the sale. Ampol is also selling a portfolio of 13 development sites around the country. Included is a mix of metropolitan and regional locations, spanning five states with sites ranging from 1265 sq m to 3073 sq m. Included are properties Tumbarumba, NSW, and Portland, Victoria. They are undeveloped and come with flexible zoning in many locations. The ASX-listed group told investors on Wednesday that its first-half earnings before interest and taxes were expected to total $400 million, compared with $502.1 million reported last year. It said tighter refining margins and a 6.1 per cent fall in first-half sales volumes during the period were partly offset by stronger sales in its convenience retail operations. The portfolio is being sold by Cushman & Wakefield's Queensland-based Daniel Cullinane. Area 53 deal Known as Area 53, the 6.5-hectare site dedicated to life science and innovations in Sydney's north has been bought by joint-venture partners Wentworth Capital and BlackRock for $200 million. The property at 5-11 and 14 Julius Avenue, North Ryde, was the former home to CSIRO for nearly 60 years and other government tenants and is located within the Macquarie Park Innovation district, which is home to medical/pharma businesses including AstraZeneca and Cochlear. It comprises 12,000 square meters of purpose-built laboratory space alongside 40,000 square meters of surplus developable land. There is a 95 per cent occupancy of which government tenants account for 70 per cent of rental income.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Firehouse pub sale to raze the roof as long-time owner sounds siren for last drinks
Motel Molly, at 2 Shepherd Street, is a boutique, near-beachfront accommodation hotel featuring 16 rooms. The previous owners, the Knox Group, opened the doors in the past few months of 2022 after a comprehensive refurbishment. In Sydney's eastern suburbs, the 42-room, six-storey boutique accommodation asset, UME Potts Point at 39A Elizabeth Bay Road, has been sold to Carpe Diem Partners, which recently bought the sister boutique site, UME Potts Point, for about $7.98 million. The private fund is run by former Goldman Sachs banker Simon Wheatley and will add to its growing portfolio, which has a focus on developing more assets in the burgeoning co-living property sector. The combined Mollymook and Potts Point sales were worth about $20 million. HTL Property's Andrew Jolliffe and Andrew Jackson advised on the sales, while Ray White Commercial also worked on the Potts Point deal. Ampol HQ Fuel refiner and retailer Ampol is raising cash through the sale of headquarters in the heart of Sydney's south with a price tag of about $100 million. The 9475-square-metre site at 29 Bourke Street, Alexandria, covers four levels with a six-year lease to the group. There is an architecturally designed atrium, advanced end-of-trip facilities and a six-star NABERS Energy rating. The Colliers team of Michael Crombie, Adam Woodward, James Mitchell and Gillian Kaplan are advising on the sale. Ampol is also selling a portfolio of 13 development sites around the country. Included is a mix of metropolitan and regional locations, spanning five states with sites ranging from 1265 sq m to 3073 sq m. Included are properties Tumbarumba, NSW, and Portland, Victoria. They are undeveloped and come with flexible zoning in many locations. The ASX-listed group told investors on Wednesday that its first-half earnings before interest and taxes were expected to total $400 million, compared with $502.1 million reported last year. It said tighter refining margins and a 6.1 per cent fall in first-half sales volumes during the period were partly offset by stronger sales in its convenience retail operations. The portfolio is being sold by Cushman & Wakefield's Queensland-based Daniel Cullinane. Area 53 deal Known as Area 53, the 6.5-hectare site dedicated to life science and innovations in Sydney's north has been bought by joint-venture partners Wentworth Capital and BlackRock for $200 million. The property at 5-11 and 14 Julius Avenue, North Ryde, was the former home to CSIRO for nearly 60 years and other government tenants and is located within the Macquarie Park Innovation district, which is home to medical/pharma businesses including AstraZeneca and Cochlear. It comprises 12,000 square meters of purpose-built laboratory space alongside 40,000 square meters of surplus developable land. There is a 95 per cent occupancy of which government tenants account for 70 per cent of rental income.
Reuters
23-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Ampol sees weaker first-half earnings on supply woes; reports lower margins
July 23 (Reuters) - Australia's top fuel retailer Ampol Ltd ( opens new tab on Wednesday forecast weaker half-year earnings as sea-freight conditions impacted its supply chain, and reported a 1.1% drop in second-quarter refining margins at its Lytton refinery. The company expects first-half earnings before interest and taxes on a replacement cost basis to be A$400 million ($262.04 million), compared with A$502.1 million a year earlier. The second-quarter refining margin at its Lytton refinery in Queensland, one of the company's key assets, decreased to $8.71 per barrel, down from $8.81 last year. Over the year, operational disruptions such as planned maintenance and loss of production days due to Cyclone Alfred, coupled with weak refining margins in Singapore, have weighed on refining margins and the output levels of the Queensland refinery. However, Lytton's refinery margin increased from the prior quarter's $6.07 per barrel owing to improved product crack — the difference between the price of crude oil and the prices of the refined petroleum products — in the later part of the year. The Sydney-based firm reported second-quarter total sales volume of 6,304 million liters (ML), down 4.7% from a year earlier. Its Lytton refinery output for the second quarter was 1,406 ML, compared to 1,420 ML logged a year earlier. The company's non-refining segments, convenience retail and New Zealand, performed well for the quarter. Grady Wulff, a senior market analyst at Bell Direct, noted that Ampol's convenience retail operations have been a key earnings driver, with resilient performance in this segment and New Zealand helping to cushion the impact of weaker refining results in the first half. Despite the mixed operational performance, shares gained ground, in tandem with the domestic energy sub-index (.AXEJ), opens new tab, which was lifted by steadying oil prices. Ampol stock rose as much as 4% to hit its highest since February 21. The company is slated to report its half-year financial results on August 18. ($1 = 1.5265 Australian dollars)
Reuters
23-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Ampol forecasts lower half-year earnings on supply chain impacts
July 23 (Reuters) - Australia's top fuel retailer Ampol Ltd ( opens new tab on Wednesday forecast weaker half-year earnings as sea-freight conditions impacted its supply chain, and reported a 1.1% drop in second-quarter refining margins at its Lytton refinery. The company expects first-half earnings before interest and tax on a replacement cost basis (RCOP EBIT) to be A$400 million ($262.04 million), compared with A$502.1 million a year earlier. The second-quarter refining margin at its Lytton refinery in Queensland, one of the company's key assets, decreased to $8.71 per barrel in the second quarter, down from $8.81 last year. Over the year, operational disruptions such as planned maintenance and loss of production days due to Cyclone Alfred, coupled with weak refining margins in Singapore, have weighed on refining margins and the output levels of the Queensland refinery. However, the refinery margin increased from the prior quarter's $6.07 per barrel, due to improved product crack - the difference between the price of crude oil and the prices of the refined petroleum products - in the later part of the year. The Sydney-based firm reported second-quarter total sales volume of 6,304 million liters (ML), down 4.7% from a year earlier. Its Lytton refinery output for the second quarter was 1,406 ML, compared to 1,420 ML logged a year earlier. The company is slated to report its half-year financial results on August 18. ($1 = 1.5265 Australian dollars)
ABC News
29-06-2025
- Automotive
- ABC News
Driveway service still exists at some independent petrol stations but is 'very unusual'
Historically, petrol stations across Australia provided personalised service, with attendants to look after you, wash your windscreen and check your car's water, oil and air. But by the 1990s bespoke customer service was on the decline. So, what happened? The turning point largely came about when fuel pumps went from mechanical to computerised, according to historian and author Colin Dennett. "The cause for the change slowly began as a combination of new pumps, fewer outlets and the era of high-volume company-operated sites developed," Mr Dennett said. Retail service stations in Australia have reduced from 22,000 sites in 1966 to approximately 8,000, generating roughly $38 billion annually. "The retail scene is basically dominated by multinationals but there's a few independents that break away from that, which is truly unique, and keeps the market competitive," Mr Dennett said. The NRMA's report Making Cents of Fuel says the presence of independent operators can influence market competition, being at least 7 to 10 cents cheaper per litre in some regional towns, with lower overhead costs. However, refiners and wholesalers still hold over 80 per cent of the market and Ampol is the biggest wholesaler. Today, driveway service it not offered by major petrol stations across Australia; however, it is possible to find small, independent operators who still provide it. On a 12-kilometre stretch between Shellharbour and Warrawong on the New South Wales south coast there are 12 petrol stations. Jimmy Pavlevski's independent station in Windang is one of them. When he purchased the business in 1998, the adjacent caravan park had a stream of people with vans and boats needing fuel. Mr Pavelvski said back then, people worked Monday to Friday and Sunday was family day. "They'd fill up, get some snacks and go for a family drive; that doesn't happen anymore," he said. "Sunday used to be the busiest day, now it's the slowest. "All people do now is sit on their phones." So, for the past few years his station has been running on the smell of an oily rag and even personalised service is dwindling due to lack of interest. And Mr Pavleski can no longer afford staff. "I can't provide that service full-time, only when customers require help," he said. As well as competing with other fuel stations, Mr Pavlevski is juggling the loss of tobacco sales, increasing fuel costs, EVs, large fridges to power and monthly card fees; he says it's a common story for independent service stations. "I'm never going to be competing with major service stations, I'm quite happy with what I have, what I've built up and the community I provide for," Mr Pavlevski said. In his book An Illustrated History of Ampol (2022), Colin Dennett weaves together the history of the company and other fuel suppliers across Australia from the 1930s. "Generally they didn't buy expensive sites and located wherever they could. "Driveway service was a way of competing because these stations were tucked away often in both back and side streets. "Today, multinationals dominate the highways and freeways and the suburban stations, which were once everywhere, have essentially disappeared. "So I would think there were very few independents left offering driveway service." At a century-old independent service station in Thirroul, NSW, window washing, below-the-bonnet work and air checks were once freely applied by attendants. For now, fuel top-ups are provided and other services exist on request. Owner-operator Graeme Rutledge works six days a week and started serving fuel at 21 when his father bought the business in 1946. To make ends meet, Mr Rutledge offers motor mechanic repairs for vintage cars. "Generally, we work on late-model cars early in the day and the others later in the day," he said. Driveway attendant Avery Vail says they enjoy serving customers and being the friendly face at the front of the petrol station. "We do driveway service, it's very pleasant to go out, serve customers and have a little chat," they said. Mr Dennett said providing driveway service was very unusual and should be encouraged. "Driveway service costs to have an attendant checking tyres et cetera, but I think it's pretty attractive, particularly for older motorists," he said.
