Mainfreight full year net profit up nearly a third on previous year to $274.3 million

RNZ News

28-05-2025

Mainfreight's net profit for the 12 months ended March was $274.3 million.
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Transport heavyweight Mainfreight full year net profit is up by nearly a third on the year earlier, with the Australian business the largest generator of revenue and profits.
"We felt in certain parts of the business we could have been better," Mainfreight managing director Don Braid said, noting the underlying profit was slightly down on the year earlier by 3 percent.
Key numbers for the 12 months ended March compared with a year ago:
Braid said the outlook for the current year was uncertain, though the pause in the imposition of United States tariffs had seen an increase in bookings and volumes, along with an increase in sea freight costs.
He said space availability was becoming tight with American businesses rushing to get products into warehouses and retail shelves.
While that was seeing revenue rise, he said the outlook was uncertain.
"It's all very well to have a small surge in volumes, but that is not of that much interest. What we're interested in is long term certainty, so that we have a steady trade," Braid said, adding that the uncertainty was affecting all global markets.
He said the near-term focus for Mainfreight was to look after its customers.
"The beauty of being in 27 different countries is that if the trade lanes change, if companies begin to think of of other countries other than the USA, then from an international shipping perspective we're able to assist their customers.
"But at the same time it's business as usual across supply chains in the five regions we're in and we're working hard to win market share and provide an improving performance."
Sales revenue increased in all five regions Mainfreight operated and its across transport, warehousing and air and ocean divisions. However, Asia, the Americas and New Zealand saw profits decline.
Braid said economic uncertainty continued to affect the New Zealand market.
"I think at the small end of town, whilst we might have seen an increase in dairy and the kiwifruit harvest was pretty healthy ... at the other end of the spectrum, I think people are still seeing it as a tough environment.
"We're lucky enough to have won more market share then we've lost and we continue to build the business."
Mainfreight was continuing to invest in new facilities in preparation for when the New Zealand economy began to improve, he said.
"However, the likelihood of slower economic growth, coupled with the considerable investments made in the past year, particularly in New Zealand, will result in a more cautionary approach to property development and capital expenditure."
However, he said there had been a small improvement in domestic freight movements over the past couple of weeks.
"How that looks as we get into the rest of the year, we're uncertain and I think that's our biggest problem is that we just don't have any certainty about how the economy will perform over the next six to 12 months."
Mainfreight would also pay staff bonuses of $30.5m to be shared with team members in branches who had contributed satisfactory profits in Australia, Asia and Europe regions.
"Unfortunately, this year's performance will result in our people in New Zealand and the Americas regions foregoing bonuses as a consequence of contributing less profit than the year prior," Braid said.
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