NWF Group Final Results: Food Growth and Cash Generation Support 15th Dividend Increase

NWF Group has delivered a resilient set of full-year results after navigating weak heating oil demand, volatile oil prices and softer milk prices.

For the year ended 31 May 2026, the specialist distributor reported higher revenue and headline operating profit. However, increased finance costs meant headline profit before tax and underlying earnings per share moved backwards.

The strongest contribution came from Food, where headline operating profit rose by 19%. Fuels remained the largest profit contributor but experienced a small decline, while Feeds delivered another stable result.

Investors can read the original company announcement or visit the dedicated NWF Group PLC share page for further company coverage.

NWF Group's key financial figures

Metric	2026	2025	Change
Revenue	£920.3 million	£903.1 million	+1.9%
Headline operating profit	£16.8 million	£16.3 million	+3.1%
Headline profit before tax	£12.5 million	£13.2 million	-5.3%
Diluted headline EPS	17.9p	18.5p	-3.2%
Headline EBITDA	£22.8 million	£22.2 million	+2.7%
Total dividend per share	8.7p	8.4p	+3.6%
Net cash excluding lease liabilities	£9.0 million	£6.3 million	+42.9%
Return on capital employed	17.8%	17.5%	+1.7%

Headline figures exclude items such as exceptional income and costs, acquired intangible amortisation and, for profit before tax, pension finance costs. They are intended to show underlying trading performance, but statutory figures remain important too.

Statutory profit before tax increased by 33.3% to £12.4 million, while diluted statutory earnings per share rose by 48.8% to 18.3p. That improvement principally reflected £1.4 million of net exceptional income, compared with £2.9 million of exceptional costs in the previous year.

The exceptional income included a £1.2 million insurance receipt and £0.8 million arising from negative goodwill on an acquisition, partly offset by acquisition and system implementation costs.

Food was the clear growth engine

Food produced the most encouraging operating progress. Revenue increased by 5.1% to £90.6 million, while headline operating profit climbed from £4.3 million to £5.1 million.

The business secured additional work from new and existing customers, raising storage levels and pallet throughput. Average storage utilisation reached 165,000 pallets, or 90.4% of capacity, while throughput increased by 4.0%.

The Lymedale warehouse operated at full capacity for its first complete year, and Food also benefited from the restructuring completed in June 2025.

Demand has been strong enough for NWF to use third-party offsite storage. That brings some short-term inefficiency, but it also demonstrates why management is examining options for a larger national network.

NWF estimates that the UK ambient grocery consolidation market is worth more than £1.5 billion, with its Food operation holding approximately 4.4%. Management is considering acquisitions, additional warehouse facilities and strategic partnerships to expand beyond its traditional North-West base.

This is the main strategic opportunity in the results. The challenge will be expanding capacity without weakening returns or taking on excessive financial commitments.

Fuels faced an unusually volatile year

Fuels revenue rose by 4.0% to £636.7 million, but headline operating profit slipped from £8.4 million to £8.1 million.

Volumes declined to 647 million litres from 660 million litres. Warm weather contributed to UK heating oil demand being 16% lower during the first half, while commercial gas oil demand fell by 6%.

Colder weather improved heating oil demand in December and January. Conditions then became volatile following the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East in March. Brent crude traded between $59 and $118 per barrel during the year, despite its annual average remaining at $75.

NWF completed two bolt-on Fuels acquisitions for total cash consideration of £4.8 million, net of cash acquired. Noel Booth & Sons and Harrison Oils were integrated into the North-West region.

The company is also embedding a regional operating model across its 32-depot network. This centralises sales and operating activities into regional hubs while retaining depots as delivery locations. Management believes the model can improve customer service, sales processes and tanker utilisation, although implementation has taken longer than expected.

Feeds remained steady as milk prices softened

Feeds revenue fell to £193.0 million from £204.6 million because lower commodity prices more than offset higher volumes.

Feed volumes increased by 2.4% to 559,000 tonnes, while headline operating profit remained unchanged at £3.6 million. Margin management and cost control helped protect profitability.

The average milk price fell to 39.4p per litre from 44.2p, ending the financial year at 35.5p. Management expects lower milk prices to affect demand over the next few months, placing greater emphasis on maintaining volumes and controlling costs.

The newer moist feed product line continued to perform ahead of plan, providing a small but positive example of organic investment generating additional demand.

Cash generation supports investment and dividends

NWF generated £29.4 million of net cash from operating activities. Headline operating cash flow was £16.0 million, representing cash conversion of 95.2%.

The group finished with net cash of £9.0 million when IFRS 16 lease liabilities are excluded, up from £6.3 million. That was achieved after spending £4.8 million on acquisitions, £3.9 million on operational capital expenditure and £4.2 million on dividends.

There is an important distinction for investors, though. Including lease liabilities, NWF had net debt of £60.5 million, up from £53.9 million. Lease liabilities increased to £69.5 million, partly because of vehicle replacement and the reassessment of the Crewe lease term.

The balance sheet nevertheless strengthened in other areas. Net assets rose to £94.4 million and the defined benefit pension scheme moved from a £2.3 million deficit to a £2.7 million accounting surplus.

The dividend record continues

The board has proposed a final dividend of 7.7p per share, payable on 4 December 2026 subject to shareholder approval. Including the interim payment, the total dividend rises by 3.6% to 8.7p.

This marks NWF's 15th consecutive year of dividend increases. Diluted headline earnings covered the payout 2.1 times, compared with 2.2 times in 2025.

The increase is modest, but extending such a lengthy record while funding acquisitions and operational investment signals confidence from the board.

What investors should watch next

Trading in Fuels has normalised so far in the new financial year, although domestic heating oil demand remains lower. Assuming normal conditions continue, the board expects group performance to be broadly in line with 2026.

That guidance is steady rather than ambitious. The most important variables are Fuels demand and oil-price volatility, the impact of lower milk prices on Feeds, and the cost of handling Food volumes through offsite storage.

Longer term, Food's national expansion plan could become the biggest driver of growth. NWF has the cash generation and available funding to pursue opportunities, but investors will want evidence that new capacity, acquisitions and partnerships can deliver attractive returns.

For now, these results show a business absorbing difficult conditions while still growing operating profit, strengthening its cash position and raising the dividend. The trade-off is that headline earnings declined and near-term guidance points to another year of broadly flat performance.