Unstaffed fuel-only stations are proving a success, the country's biggest petrol station owner says, in a sign Australians could be seeing more of them.
Ampol converted 27 of its Australian petrol stations to its unmanned U-Go sites in 2025, taking its portfolio to 46, and they have boosted fuel volumes while reducing costs.
U-Go sites operating for at least 12 months were showing a 50 per cent uplift in fuel volumes and an average of $350,000 earnings improvement, Ampol chief executive Matt Halliday told analysts on Monday.
"We're really pleased with it," he said.
"We are seeing that it's taking about six months for the local market to settle on that operating model, but we're really pleased with the success we're seeing once it takes hold."
The unstaffed sites were open around the clock and designed to compete in the second-tier end of the market, Mr Halliday said.
Ampol has also converted 27 of its Z Energy petrol stations in New Zealand to U-Go stations and they are also lifting earnings.
The unstaffed model is well established in New Zealand, Ampol says.
The Australian conversions have cost Ampol an average of $280,000 per site, an investment that pays for itself in just a year with reduced labour costs.
But motorists should not expect the U-Go sites to offer cheaper fuel than the company's manned service stations.
"There is nothing about what we're doing that is, for want of a better term, pulling prices down," Ampol chief financial officer Greg Barnes told analysts.
Ampol sets fuel prices based on the quality of the site and the local competitive dynamic, he explained.
U-Go offered motorists "affordable fuel, a consistent, simple experience, and good site quality and access, which is why it's doing very well", Mr Barnes said.
At the other end of the market, Mr Halliday said Ampol's premium Foodary convenience and fuel stations were going "from strength to strength".
The company had 622 company-owned petrol stations in Australia as of December 31, but is looking to expand that with its proposed $1.1 billion acquisition of EG Australia, a chain of about fuel 500 outlets that trade under the EG Ampol banner.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is reviewing that transaction, announced in August.
Ampol's full-year earnings from convenience retail were up 3.2 per cent to $562.1 million, compared with 2024, while its earnings from fuel and infrastructure were up 64 per cent to $572.1 million.
The company delivered a full-year statutory net profit of $82.4 million, down a third from 2024, in part due to a $89.9 million writedown of its 20 per cent interest in Seaoil, an independent fuel company in the Philippines.
The company said its Lytton oil refinery in Brisbane - one of the last two refineries operating in Australia - performed strongly during 2025, delivering $226.9 million in earnings, up from $23.4 million in 2024.
Ampol will pay a final dividend of 60 cents per share, fully franked, taking its dividends for the year to $1, the same as a year ago.
Ampol shares on the ASX on Monday closed down 2.1 per cent to $28.36.
