Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. (SOL) Q4 2026 Earnings Report

The call was strongly positive, supported by record transaction activity, substantial NAV and shareholder-return outperformance, 28 consecutive years of dividend growth, improved tax assets, strong liquidity and robust private credit and private company performance. The main negatives were lower operating NPAT, the Tuas regulatory impact, mixed emerging companies performance, constrained real assets returns and acknowledged broader private credit and market risks. Management remained confident, defensive and selective while emphasizing continued portfolio diversification and future deployment capacity.

For FY ’27, Soul Patts said annualized Brickworks cost-out savings will flow through, private companies target returns are indicatively above 20% and credit target returns are above 10%, with credit targeting low double-digit returns; 8 offshore credit fund allocations are already committed, while $2 billion of global-manager commitments is expected to be drawn over the next 2 to 3 years, although it may not be the full $2 billion. The FY ’27 year is off to a strong start, with net asset value up 4.3% against a market that is negative 1.1%, a 5.4% outperformance, to 22 September. The current fixed income running yield is about 150 basis points above the RBA cash rate, with expectations of 2 or 3 rate rises imminently. Soul Patts said the payout ratio is dependent on market conditions, has ranged from sort of early 70% to up around 90% over the past 6 or 7 years, and it has no targets on offshore weighting; exposure will increase as commitments are drawn down, while new commitments will slow quite a bit.