The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price fell more than 2% after delivering its FY25 half-year result.
Woodside is a large oil and gas producer.
Woodside HY25 result
The energy company reported how it performed for the six months to 30 June 2025:
- Operating revenue rose 10% to US$6.6 billion
- Underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) sank 24% to US$1.25 billion
- Net profit after tax of $1.3 billion
- Free cashflow sank 63% to $272 million
- Fully franked interim dividend of US$0.53 per share, down 23%
Woodside reported that the average realised price for its energy declined by 1% to US$61.8 per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE). It delivered production of 99.2 million barrels of oil equivalent.
This led to the business reducing its unit production costs to US$7.7 per BOE.
Woodside said it delivered strong EBITDA (EBITDA explained) of $4.6 billion of the underlying base business and operating cashflow of $3.3 billion.
Free cashflow is a lot lower than operating cashflow because it’s investing heavily in various projects. Woodside said it has achieved strong progress on its major projects, with Scarborough 86% complete, Trion is 35% complete and the Beaumont New Ammonia project is 95% complete.
Woodside also said that it is positioned to unlock future value through the final investment decision (FID) to develop the Louisiana LNG project. Sangomar, a fairly new project, maintained “exceptional” performance – it generated revenue of almost $1 billion with gross production of 100,000 barrels per day.
The energy business said its dividend represents an 80% dividend payout ratio of underlying net profit, and an annualised dividend yield of around 7%.
Management commentary
The Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said:
The outstanding performance of our high-quality assets over the first half has continued to support safe, reliable operations. This has been complemented by a strong focus on cost management, resulting in a reduction in our unit production costs. We have also taken a disciplined approach to future growth and reduced spend on new energy and exploration as we prioritise delivering sanctioned projects.
We continue to receive strong interest from high-quality potential partners as we explore further sell-downs of Louisiana LNG. This highlights the distinct value Woodside offers, with our business model well positioned to deliver compelling long-term value in the US LNG market, further differentiated by our extensive LNG experience, portfolio marketing capabilities, and balance sheet strength.
Further strengthening our operational capabilities and subsequent to the period, we agreed to assume operatorship of the Bass Strait assets offshore Victoria from ExxonMobil. This agreement creates flexibility for future development opportunities through existing infrastructure.
Final thoughts on the Woodside share price
While it did drop more than 2% today, it is still up more than 5% in the last month alone, so shareholders can be happy.
It depends on what happens with energy prices to know if this is a good time to buy, which is impossible to know. I could see scenarios where the global economy noticeably improves, but also where it worsens due to tariffs. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, so it’s not the sort of investment I’d make.
There are definitely other ASX dividend shares I’d rather buy for reliable or large dividend income.
