Brambles Flags Further Earnings Rise After Lifting Annual Profit

By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--Brambles lifted its final dividend and flagged a further rise in underlying profit for the year ahead after price rises drove an increase in annual earnings.

The Australia-listed pallet supplier on Wednesday reported an underlying profit for the 12 months through June of US$1.07 billion, up 19% once currency moves are stripped out. That compared with April's improved guidance of a 17%-19% increase and US$930.0 million a year earlier.

Sales revenue from continuing operations rose by 14% to US$6.08 billion, also on a constant-currency basis. The company had guided for a 14%-15% rise.

Brambles reported a net profit of US$703.3 billion on a statutory basis, up 24% on-year at constant FX rates. The average analyst forecast had been for a statutory net profit of US$660 million off revenue of US$6.17 billion, according to data compiled by FactSet.

Directors declared a final dividend of 14 U.S. cents, compared with 12.0 U.S. cents a year ago.

Brambles expects underlying profit to rise by 9-12% in its 2024 fiscal year, which began on July 1. It expects 6-8% higher revenue and positive free cash flow before dividends of between US$450 million and US$550 million.

Write to Stuart Condie at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 29, 2023 18:45 ET (22:45 GMT)

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