AMA Group keeps FY27 target as October repair volumes improve

FY27 EBITDA guidance survives a softer first quarter

AMA Group Limited (ASX:AMA) has kept its FY27 normalised pre-AASB 16 EBITDA guidance at $75 million to $80 million, despite subdued demand for low-severity collision repairs in the opening quarter. The guidance remains conditional on there being no material further deterioration in trading conditions.

The company delivered 1Q27 revenue of $269.6 million and normalised EBITDA of $18.5 million, down from $20.1 million in 1Q26. Management said repair volumes were subdued in low-severity work but stable in higher-severity repairs, while October brought modest improvement in volumes in certain key regions.

Cash flow improves as ACM Parts reaches record EBITDA

Operating cash flow before AASB 16 was positive at $1.0 million in 1Q27, a marked improvement on the $3.1 million outflow recorded in the same quarter last year. That cash generation came despite $6.6 million of investment in equipment, technology and the operating footprint.

ACM Parts produced record quarterly EBITDA of $1.7 million, compared with $0.3 million in 1Q26, helped by sales growth and margin improvement. AMA said it was continuing to invest in inventory range expansion and technology, positioning the parts operation as an increasingly important contributor to the broader repair network.

The group also spent $0.8 million buying back shares during the quarter, taking cumulative repurchases under the program to $0.9 million. The program was launched earlier this year after AMA Group's share buy-back was announced as part of the company's capital management approach.

FY26 recovery supports dividend and renewed growth claims

AMA entered the new financial year from a stronger FY26 base, reporting record revenue of $1.0391 billion, normalised pre-AASB 16 EBITDA of $68.0 million and positive net profit after tax of $7.7 million. The result enabled a fully franked dividend of 0.5 cents per share, the first dividend payment since 2019, which was paid after the end of September.

The result extended the FY26 profit turnaround, which included the same $7.7 million profit and a return to dividends. In 1Q27, Capital SMART continued to post strong margins, Wales delivered a solid quarter and the specialist businesses benefited from higher utilisation in mechanical, ADAS and related services. AMA Collision, however, was affected by weaker low-severity volumes.

Network optimisation remains central to the earnings plan

Management said network optimisation, cost control and process improvements should support repair-business performance through the rest of FY27, provided volumes do not deteriorate materially. The group is also seeking growth through additional Capital SMART customers, expanded specialist services and further development of ACM Parts.

The operating picture is not uniformly benign. Collision repair volume was 61,500 in 1Q27, broadly below the 65,300 recorded in 1Q26, while the reported lost-time injury frequency rate rose to 8.72 from 2.37 a year earlier. The quarterly financial information is unaudited, and the next test will be whether improving October volumes can persist without sacrificing margins.