Latest news with #DonBraid
NZ Herald
04-08-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Mainfreight rebounds, Gentrack takes a hit as NZX trades flat
'So people will be going: 'Is that growth rate that we've got built in really achievable if your existing customers are churning off?'.' Going in the other direction was Mainfreight, which rose 0.96% to $60.07 on volumes amounting to more than $5m in volume traded. Mainfreight shares fell 10% last week after the business told attendees of its annual shareholders' meeting that it had a 'slow and disappointing' start to the financial year. Robertshawe noted an NZX disclosure notice on Friday that showed managing director Don Braid had bought 10,000 shares for just above $58 per share. 'That's got to be an endorsement,' he said. 'That was a disappointing result, but he's viewing this as a cyclical problem rather than any change to the long-term plan, and he's backing it with his own money.' Announcements In an update for the three months to July 27, Briscoe Group said second-quarter sales rose 2.07% to $192.9m compared with the same period last year. Managing director Rod Duke said a bounce in the homeware segment, up 3.97% in the quarter, followed a weak start to the financial year. Shares were unchanged at $6.01. Forsyth Barr equity analyst Paul Koraua said the result was a 'good improvement'. However, because the share price has risen nearly 15% since the company was added to the NZX 50 index in June, the investment case has changed. A month ago, Forsyth Barr set its target price for Briscoe Group at $5.95 and downgraded it to 'underperform' from 'neutral'. Rakon shares dipped 2.47% to 79 cents after former executive and shareholder Brent Robinson said he would not support Mark Bregman, Lisbeth Jacobs and Jon Raby to join the board at its scheduled meeting later this month. Rakon said its 12.19% shareholder, Taiwanese company Siward Crystal Technology Co and its board appointee, Jung Meng Tseng, were also against the independent board appointments, which included Bregman becoming chair. M&A Action Tourism Holdings (THL) shares rose 0.49% to $2.06 after it told the market that an unsolicited indication of interest from a consortium to buy it for $2.30 a share was an 'opportunistic and undervalued offer'. 'Based on careful consideration and external analysis, the board has come to the view that the value of the company is well north of $3.00 per share,' it said. In June, it received an indication of interest from a consortium comprising BGH Capital and the family interests of Luke and Karl Trouchet, directors of the company. '[THL] want to get people interested, doing their due diligence and becoming interested in the company, but they're not going to sell it less than what they think it's worth,' Robertshawe said. 'They'll be hoping that BGH and the insider reassess what bid they can pay, and that it's materially higher than $2.30, but this could take a long time to play out.' Staying with acquisitions, prospective SmartPay buyer Shift4 Payments obtained the necessary consent under the Overseas Investment Act for its proposed acquisition of SmartPay. The scheme of arrangement, under which Shift4 would acquire all the shares in Smartpay for $1.20 per share in cash, is now one step closer to completion. SmartPay shares gained 1.79% to finish the day at $1.135.
Edmonton Journal
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Friday's letters: Cartmell's infill vote absence a bad look for potential mayor
Article content Is that what Edmonton has to expect should Tim Cartmell become mayor? Lame excuses about technologies followed by a letter? He should be in front of the camera and face reporters and Edmontonians. Article content Article content Article content In reading Don Braid's column on the current measles outbreak in Alberta, it's sad when 'equally awful' seems to be considered an acceptable standard. We should all be equally ashamed. Article content Someone has got to explain to our premier that she can start an Alberta pension plan at any time, but will have to start it from scratch. And it would have to be separate from and out of the hands of the Government of Alberta. The money in the CPP doesn't belong to the Government of Canada to use as it sees fit; the government of the day can't just take money out of it to balance a budget or to build a railway. Article content None of the CPP should ever belong to the Government of Alberta; it belongs to us, those that have and are still contributing to it. Even if we separate from Confederation, the money in that CPP that we the people have contributed will be due to us, not to the Alberta government's general revenues. Article content Article content Warren Footz, St. Albert Article content Alberta now has more cases of measles than all of the United States. Definitely not a record to be proud of. Interesting that both Alberta and the United States have leaders who are strongly against vaccines. The people I feel sorry for are the poor children who may have long-term aftereffects, but had no voice in getting the vaccine or not. Article content Plain and simple, we need a government that will heed the science. Article content Thank you to Lydia Kawun and Colin Hefferon for their clear assessment of Edmonton's new zoning law. Most people would agree that increased density in Edmonton is a good thing. The problem is the no-holds-barred, one-size-fits-all approach. This is simply building the tenements and slums of tomorrow.
RNZ News
28-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Mainfreight full year net profit up nearly a third on previous year to $274.3 million
Mainfreight's net profit for the 12 months ended March was $274.3 million. Photo: Supplied 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. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
13-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
NZ exporters relieved after US - China reach temporary trade agreement
economy world politics 38 minutes ago New Zealand exporters are breathing a small sigh of relief, after the US and China agreed to a temporary halt on the tariffs they had put on imports from each other's country. Mainfreight's Managing Director Don Braid spoke to Charlotte Cook.
