RaoscaffResearch
Prediction Series · Lock · Issue P-332
Prediction Series · P-332

NZ$130m of EBITDA. NZ$18m of profit.

91% probability Vulcan Steel's FY2027 adjusted EBITDA reaches at least NZ$120m, after NZ$130m in FY2026. FY2027 gets a full twelve months of Roofing Industries against nine, and steel volumes grew about 20% in the second half.

Type · Prediction Lock · level-anchored floor, metals distribution Locked · 2026-09-03 · before the FY2027 result Resolves · ~2027-08-19 · Vulcan Steel FY2027 results (investors.vulcan.co) Scored · binary: reported FY2027 adjusted EBITDA >= NZ$120m yes/no
Vulcan Steel FY2027 adjusted EBITDA · our locked floor
NZ$120m
full-year adjusted EBITDA · vs NZ$130m in FY2026

Vulcan Steel reported FY2026 adjusted EBITDA up 16% to NZ$130m, including the impact of Roofing Industries from 1 October, and lifted net profit 22% to NZ$18m on higher sales. Volume growth was the main driver of the profit improvement, contributing NZ$61m, with steel volumes growing about 20% in the second half as the business benefited from both market recovery and share gains. Management expects continued growth in FY2027, supported by hybrid site expansion, Roofing Industries and improving market conditions, and expects continued volume growth supported by a full twelve months of Roofing Industries contribution in FY2027 against nine months in FY2026. Capital expenditure is expected to rise to NZ$30m to NZ$35m in FY2027. Source: Vulcan Steel FY2026 annual results.

— 1 · The Locked Call

Vulcan Steel's FY2027 adjusted EBITDA is at least NZ$120m — P = 0.91.

We lock a binary: Vulcan Steel's reported adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2027 is NZ$120m or higher. Confidence 91%.

No numeric FY2027 EBITDA guidance was published. FY2026 adjusted EBITDA was NZ$130m, so our threshold sits NZ$10m — about 7.7% — below the banked actual. That is a narrower buffer than most no-guidance locks in this series carry, and one structural fact is the reason.

— 2 · Three extra months of an acquisition already owned

Nine months of Roofing Industries becomes twelve.

Vulcan acquired Roofing Industries and consolidated it from 1 October, which means FY2026 captured nine months of it. FY2027 captures twelve. That is three additional months of a business the company already owns, already operates and has already reported the economics of — not a projection, an arithmetic consequence of the calendar.

Most level-anchored locks in this series have to assume a business merely repeats. This one has a known tailwind sitting inside the comparison, which is why the buffer is 7.7% rather than the 11.9% taken for Freightways at P-315 or the 17.4% for SkyCity at P-323, both of which had no such support.

The underlying trading direction points the same way. Volume growth contributed NZ$61m to the FY2026 improvement, and steel volumes grew about 20% in the second half on both market recovery and share gains — so the year exited stronger than it averaged. Management expects continued growth, supported by hybrid site expansion and improving conditions.

— 3 · Why the lock is on EBITDA and not on profit

NZ$130m becomes NZ$18m by the time it reaches the bottom line.

Vulcan's FY2026 produced NZ$130m of adjusted EBITDA and NZ$18m of net profit. The gap is more than seven-eighths of the number, and it is structural rather than exceptional: metals distribution runs on inventory, property and vehicle fleets, so depreciation, lease charges and interest consume most of the operating margin.

That makes net profit a badly behaved line to lock. A NZ$18m base is small enough that an ordinary movement in interest costs or a single inventory revaluation can swing it by a quarter, without saying anything about the trading performance. EBITDA at NZ$130m is roughly seven times larger and correspondingly less sensitive to any one input.

The criterion therefore names ADJUSTED EBITDA, on the same basis as the NZ$130m comparative, and rules out net profit in terms. Capital expenditure guided at NZ$30-35m for FY2027 is also excluded — it is a cash outflow, not an earnings measure, and appears in the criterion only to be ruled out.

The residual 9% is a reversal in New Zealand construction and manufacturing demand deep enough to outweigh the extra Roofing Industries quarter, or steel price deflation compressing distribution margins on inventory bought higher.

Locked on 2026-09-03 — scored against Vulcan's reported FY2027 adjusted EBITDA.

RAOSCAFF locks P-332 on 2026-09-03, before the FY2027 result. Scored against adjusted EBITDA as reported by Vulcan Steel for the year to 30 June 2027.

Locked
2026-09-03 (commit timestamp on origin/main)
Resolves
~2027-08-19 — Vulcan Steel Limited FY2027 annual results
Source
Vulcan Steel Limited FY2027 annual results, adjusted EBITDA in New Zealand dollars (investors.vulcan.co)
Scored by
Binary: YES if reported FY2027 ADJUSTED EBITDA is NZ$120m or greater; NO if below. ADJUSTED EBITDA on the same basis as the NZ$130m FY2026 comparative — NOT net profit (NZ$18m in FY2026), NOT statutory or unadjusted EBITDA if presented separately, NOT revenue, NOT capital expenditure (guided at NZ$30-35m for FY2027), NOT tonnes sold, and NOT the Roofing Industries or any other single segment. Vulcan's financial year ends 30 JUNE 2027.

Three more months of a business it already owns is arithmetic, not a forecast. That is why this buffer is 7.7% and SkyCity's was 17.4%.