MELBOURNE, June 24, 2026, 08:03 (AEST)
Cleanaway Waste Management shares were set to reopen on Wednesday after ending Tuesday at A$2.32, down 2.1%, on 26.57 million shares. That was 2.1 times the displayed average volume. A calculation using the quoted share count puts the one-day equity-value loss at about A$112 million.
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.33% to 8,787. Cleanaway lagged the benchmark by about 1.8 percentage points, so the index explains only part of the decline.
Cleanaway’s ASX page showed its latest submission was the June 12 chair succession update. There was no fresh company filing attached to Tuesday’s drop.
The unresolved issue is the April profit warning. Cleanaway estimated a A$20 million FY26 EBIT hit from fuel, logistics and lower Contract Resources activity in the Middle East, and cut guidance to A$460 million-A$480 million from A$480 million-A$500 million. It said the damage was mainly timing: pass-through clauses, contract terms that shift fuel costs to customers, would put most recent increases into prices by July 1.
That date falls one day after Cleanaway’s June 30 financial year-end. The pricing catch-up therefore starts in FY27, while the A$20 million hit sits in FY26 — a timing mismatch that can turn into margin recovery if diesel stays down.
On the numbers, the current range implies second-half earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, of A$231.8 million-A$251.8 million. That is 1.6%-10.3% above first-half underlying EBIT of A$228.2 million. The high end still needs a clear step-up; the low end does not.
Before the fuel warning, CEO Mark Schubert told analysts Cleanaway had “a clear pathway to support the earnings step up” and expected “a significantly stronger second half cash flow.” He cited second-half cost savings and a recovery in several operations. The April cut lowered the target but left those execution claims in place. Investing
The direction was different among large U.S. waste operators on Tuesday. Waste Management rose 2.6% and Republic Services gained 2.3%, a cross-market comparison that weakens the case for a sector-wide reason behind Cleanaway’s fall.
At A$2.32, Cleanaway is 21.4% below its 52-week high and only 7.4% above the low. It has lost 2.9% over seven days, leaving the stock close enough to its trough for the July pricing reset to matter to positioning.
But lower crude is not an instant fix. Brent settled at US$77.08 on Tuesday, yet SEB Research analyst Ole Hvalbye called the U.S.-Iran framework “new and fragile”; a renewed supply shock could reopen the fuel gap. Cleanaway also faces a separate A$6.94 million Victorian landfill-levy payment, with possible costs and interest, after a Supreme Court ruling. Reuters
