KEY POINTS:
Listed carrier and logistics company Mainfreight has reported a 9 per cent increase in first half net profit of $15.72 million.
A further $61.47 million was added to the company's net surplus for the six months to September with the gain on the sale of Mainfreight's interests in Lep and Pan Orient and the trading of those businesses in April and May.
That took the total net surplus, including abnormal gains for the period, to $77.19m, the company said today.
Challenging first quarter conditions continued in July and August, but September saw a significant improvement which had continued into the third quarter, Mainfreight said.
A fully imputed interim dividend of 8c per share, up from 7cps a year ago, is to be paid.
For continuing businesses, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) improved 6.4 per cent to $28.72m, Mainfreight said.
After taking foreign exchange effects into account, that increase was 10.2 per cent.
For the New Zealand domestic division sales levels remained subdued, but ebitda continued to improve, increasing 6.4 per cent to $15m.
That included a one-off property gain on sale of $580,000 in the first quarter. Trading improved during September, with further improvement seen during October and November, particularly in areas where market share had improved.
In the New Zealand international division revenue levels continued to be affected by the impact of the high New Zealand dollar on export volumes, Mainfreight said.
But with a continued increase in import volumes, ebitda improved 20.7 per cent to $1.96m.
In the Australian domestic division, when foreign exchange impacts were excluded, revenues increased 15.1 per cent to A$61.19m ($72.53m).
Ebitda was down 4.9 per cent to A$4.41m as the company invested in additional warehousing and logistics capacity to cope with increased demand.
Revenue levels increased during September and October, with third quarter ebitda to date showing an improvement over the previous period, Mainfreight said.
Construction of a new Sydney freight facility was on schedule to be finished in February, and would provide relief from congestion as Sydney freight volumes increased.
For the Australia international division, revenues improved 8.6 per cent to A$59.52m, while ebitda was up 15.7 per cent before foreign exchange impacts to A$2.33m.
Airfreight growth was improving, the company said.
The CaroTrans division in the United States had a 25.1 per cent rise in revenues to US$45.84m ($61.05m), while ebitda was up 24.1 per cent to US$2.62m, excluding foreign exchange influences.
CaroTrans had gained further market share in both inbound and outbound freight volumes during the third quarter, Mainfreight said.
The company also completed on October 31, after the current reporting period, the acquisition of Target Logistics in the US at a cost of US$57m which had been debt funded in US dollars through a US facility at an interest rate of 5.24 per cent.
Target Logistics had been been de-listed from the American Exchange and would be consolidated into the Mainfreight Group from November 1, Mainfreight said.
Its performance was in line with expectations at the time it was bought.
The Asian Mainfreight Express division had trading revenues up 17.7 per cent to US$9.99m, with ebitda up to US$1.16m from $870,000.
Senior management had been relocated to Hong Kong to develop products and services throughout the Asia region, Mainfreight said.
It expected to open a new branch in Guangzhou before the end of the calendar year.
Mainfreight shares closed at $7.12 yesterday, having ranged between $8.15 and $6.67 in the past year.
- NZPA
