World Kinect Corporation Reports First Quarter 2026 Results

Strong First Quarter 2026 Results and Raises Fiscal Year 2026 Adjusted EPS Guidance

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 23, 2026-- World Kinect Corporation (NYSE: WKC) today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2026.

First Quarter 2026 Highlights

• Gross profit of $271 million
• Adjusted gross profit of $254 million
• GAAP net income of $26 million, or $0.50 per diluted share
• Adjusted net income of $39 million, or $0.75 per diluted share
• Adjusted EBITDA of $94 million
• Repurchased $75 million of common stock

Reportable Segment Year-Over-Year Highlights

Aviation Segment

• First quarter 2026 gross profit was $138 million, an increase of 20%, primarily attributable to the contribution from our acquisition of Universal Weather and Aviation's Trip Support Services division in the fourth quarter of 2025 as well as increased contributions from our core resale business, principally in Europe, and government activity.

Land Segment

• First quarter 2026 gross profit was $67 million, a decrease of 16%, principally due to the U.K. Land sale as well as unfavorable market conditions in our natural gas business, partially offset by higher contributions from our cardlock network and retail operations in North America. Excluding non-core divestitures and business exits, Adjusted gross profit is $49 million, a decrease of 38%.

Marine Segment

• First quarter 2026 gross profit was $66 million, an increase of 86%, primarily driven by significantly higher bunker fuel prices, elevated price volatility, and strong execution supported by disciplined risk management in a dynamic market environment.

"We delivered a strong start to the year, reflecting the strength of our team and ability to execute in a volatile market environment," said Ira M. Birns, Chief Executive Officer. "By simplifying the portfolio and sharpening our focus on the core, we're beginning to deliver clearer, more consistent results and improving returns on capital."

"Our results this quarter exceeded expectations, reflecting solid performance across our core businesses and our ability to capture incremental value in a more dynamic market environment," said Mike Tejada, Chief Financial Officer. "We remained committed to our long-term strategy and disciplined execution balanced by a capital allocation strategy focused on returning capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends."

2026 Outlook

For the full year 2026, the company is raising Adjusted diluted EPS guidance to a range of $2.65 to $2.85 per share, from a prior range of $2.20 to $2.40.

Financial Summary

(Unaudited - in millions, except per share data)

Aligning to Our Core Brand — World Fuel

In connection with the reporting of first quarter 2026 results, World Kinect also announced that it is realigning its corporate brand to its core commercial brand, World Fuel. World Fuel will serve as the Company's unified brand for substantially all internal and external purposes. World Kinect will remain in use only as the Company's legal name (and the Company will continue trading under its existing ticker symbol). The transition is effective immediately.

"This is a return to our roots and what we do best, and is the logical next step in our transformation. World Fuel is the name by which our customers and suppliers know us – as a leading provider of transportation fuels and highly complementary service offerings throughout the world," said Ira M. Birns. "The actions we have taken as an organization to simplify the business, prioritize higher-return activities, and strengthen our core businesses position us to deliver more consistent, scalable returns and drive long-term shareholder value. We look forward to continuing these efforts and building on our strong momentum as World Fuel."

Earnings Conference Call

An investor conference call will be held today, April 23, 2026, at 5:00 PM Eastern Time to discuss our first quarter results. Participants can access the live webcast by visiting our website at ir.worldkinect.com. An on-demand replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the call.

About the Company

Headquartered in Miami, Florida, World Fuel is a leading global provider of aviation, marine and ground-based transportation fuels and complementary services. Through an integrated global supply and logistics network, it sources and distributes products and services to meet customer needs across more than 200 countries and territories throughout the world, including lower-carbon fuels to support customers' energy-transition objectives. In the United States, the Company also markets natural gas and related solutions.

For more information, visit world-kinect.com.

Definitions

• "Net income (loss)" means net income (loss) attributable to World Kinect as presented in the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income.
• "Operating margin" means income (loss) from operations as a percentage of gross profit.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We believe that the non-GAAP financial measures, when considered in conjunction with our financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP, are useful to investors to further aid in evaluating our ongoing financial performance and to provide supplemental information to our GAAP results.

Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, our presentation of the non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to the presentation of such metrics by other companies.

Our non-GAAP financial measures exclude acquisition and divestiture related expenses, costs associated with restructuring activities (including all costs associated with exit activities), impairments, gains or losses on the extinguishment of debt, gains or losses on sale of businesses, integration costs associated with our acquisitions, and non-operating legal settlements, primarily because we do not believe they are reflective of our core operating results. We also exclude costs associated with a previously disclosed erroneous bid made in the Finnish power market (the "Finnish bid error") that resulted in the extraordinary losses as well as operating results associated with certain non-core businesses divested or otherwise in the process of being exited or wound-down for periods following management's determination that the operating results of such businesses are no longer indicative of the Company's ongoing operations ("non-core divestitures and business exits"). While these non-core divestitures and business exits do not qualify for or represent discontinued operations under the applicable accounting guidance because they do not represent a strategic shift that will have a major effect on our operations and financial results, we believe that excluding the operating results associated with this activity enhances investors' understanding of the profitability of our remaining businesses.

We use the following non-GAAP measures:

• Adjusted net income attributable to World Kinect ("Adjusted net income") is defined as net income excluding the impact of acquisition and divestiture related expenses, costs associated with restructuring activities (including all costs associated with exit activities), impairments, gains or losses on the extinguishment of debt, gains or losses on sale of businesses, integration costs, non-operating legal settlements, costs associated with the Finnish bid error, and operating results associated with non-core divestitures and business exits.
• Adjusted diluted earnings per common share ("Adjusted EPS") is computed by dividing adjusted net income by the sum of the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period and the number of additional shares of common stock that would have been outstanding if our outstanding potentially dilutive securities had been issued. For the purpose of calculating Adjusted EPS, the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding is adjusted to include the convertible note hedges. Potentially dilutive securities include share-based compensation awards, such as non-vested restricted stock units, performance stock units where the performance requirements have been met, settled stock appreciation rights awards, and the convertible notes.
• Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("Adjusted EBITDA") is defined as net income including noncontrolling interest and excluding the impact of interest, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization, in addition to acquisition and divestiture related expenses, costs associated with restructuring activities (including all costs associated with exit activities), impairments, gains or losses on sale of businesses, integration costs, non-operating legal settlements, costs associated with the Finnish bid error, and operating results associated with non-core divestitures and business exits.
• Adjusted income from operations is defined as income (loss) from operations excluding the impact of acquisition and divestiture related expenses, costs associated with restructuring activities (including all costs associated with exit activities), impairments, integration costs, costs associated with the Finnish bid error, and operating results associated with non-core divestitures and business exits.
• Adjusted income from operations as a percentage of gross profit ("Adjusted operating margin") is computed by dividing Adjusted income from operations by Adjusted gross profit.
• Adjusted operating expenses is defined as operating expenses excluding the impact of acquisition and divestiture related expenses, costs associated with restructuring activities (including all costs associated with exit activities), impairments, integration costs, costs associated with the Finnish bid error, and operating results associated with non-core divestitures and business exits.
• Consolidated and Land Adjusted gross profit is defined as gross profit excluding the impact of costs associated with the Finnish bid error and operating results associated with non-core divestitures and business exits.
• Free cash flow is defined as operating cash flow minus total capital expenditures.

Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in this press release and on our website. We have provided 2026 earnings guidance with regard to the non-GAAP measure of Adjusted EPS. This measure excludes from the corresponding GAAP financial measure of diluted earnings per share the effect of adjustments as described above. We have not provided a reconciliation of such non-GAAP guidance to the corresponding GAAP measure because we cannot predict and quantify with a reasonable degree of confidence all of the adjustments that may occur during the period.

Information Relating to Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the words "believe," "expect," "could," "conviction," "would," "will," "continue," "future," "may," "outlook," "strategy," "strengthen," "undertake," "anticipated," "forecast," "forward," "guidance," "objective," or words or phrases of similar meaning. Specifically, this release includes forward-looking statements regarding the expected benefits of our executive leadership transition and our future performance. Our forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by cautionary statements and risk factor disclosures contained in our Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. Our actual results may differ materially from the future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results and events anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the imposition of tariffs or retaliatory tariffs and other trade measures, or renegotiation of existing trade arrangements; customer and counterparty creditworthiness and our ability to collect accounts receivable and settle derivative contracts; changes in the market prices of, or an unexpected shortage or disruption in the supply of, energy or commodities or extremely high or low fuel prices that continue for an extended period of time; adverse conditions in the industries in which our customers operate; our inability to effectively mitigate certain financial risks and other risks associated with derivatives and our physical fuel products; our ability to achieve the expected level of benefit from our restructuring activities and cost reduction initiatives; relationships with our employees and potential labor disputes associated with employees covered by collective bargaining agreements; our failure to comply with restrictions and covenants governing our outstanding indebtedness; the impact of cyber and other information technology or security related incidents on us, our customers or other parties; changes in the political, economic or regulatory environment generally and in the markets in which we operate, including as a result of the current conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and uncertainty in Venezuela; greenhouse gas reduction programs and other environmental and climate change legislation adopted by governments around the world, including cap and trade regimes, carbon taxes, increased efficiency standards and mandates for renewable energy, each of which could increase our operating and compliance costs as well as adversely impact our sales of fuel products; changes in credit terms extended to us from our suppliers; non-performance of suppliers on their sale commitments and customers on their purchase commitments; non-performance of third-party service providers; our ability to effectively integrate and derive benefits from acquired businesses or fully realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, divestitures and other strategic transactions; our ability to effectively complete divestitures in accordance with anticipated timing; our ability to meet financial forecasts associated with our operating plan; lower than expected cash flows and revenues, which could impair our ability to realize the value of recorded intangible assets and goodwill; the availability of cash and sufficient liquidity to fund our working capital and strategic investment needs; currency exchange fluctuations; inflationary pressures and their impact on our customers or the global economy, including sudden or significant increases in interest rates or a global recession; our ability to effectively leverage technology and operating systems and realize the anticipated benefits; the proliferation of alternative fuel which could result in lower global demand for certain energy sources; failure to meet fuel and other product specifications agreed with our customers; environmental and other risks associated with the storage, transportation and delivery of petroleum products; reputational harm from adverse publicity arising out of spills, environmental contamination or public perception about the impacts on climate change by us or other companies in our industry; risks associated with operating in high-risk locations, including supply disruptions, border or route closures and other logistical difficulties that arise when working in these areas; uninsured or underinsured losses; seasonal variability that adversely affects our revenues and operating results, as well as the impact of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and wildfires; pandemics, terrorism, global conflicts, power outages, and other events that could impact demand for fuel; declines in the value and liquidity of cash equivalents and investments; our ability to retain and attract senior management and other key employees; changes in U.S. or foreign tax laws, interpretations of such laws, changes in the mix of taxable income among different tax jurisdictions, or adverse results of tax audits, assessments, or disputes; our failure to generate sufficient future taxable income in jurisdictions with material deferred tax assets and net operating loss carryforwards; changes in multilateral conventions, treaties, tariffs and trade measures or other arrangements between or among sovereign nations; our ability to comply with U.S. and international laws and regulations, including those related to anti-corruption, economic sanction programs and environmental matters; the outcome of litigation, regulatory investigations and other legal matters, including the associated legal and other costs; and other risks described from time to time in our SEC filings. New risks emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors or to assess the impact of such risks on our business or the extent to which any factor may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Further, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Accordingly, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, changes in expectations, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

-- Some amounts in this press release may not add due to rounding. All percentages have been calculated using unrounded amounts --

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Braulio Medrano, Senior Director FP&A and Investor Relations
[email protected]

Source: World Kinect Corporation