Mainfreight ‘remarkable’ say analysts

Mainfreight shares hit an all-time high of $46.95 yesterday before closing at $46.90 following a strong trading update and upbeat annual meeting on Thursday.

Shares in the global logistics firm are up 10.5 per cent so far this year, valuing the business at $4.27 billion.

On Thursday, Mainfreight said it had turned around slowing progress in Australia, with the division lifting pre-tax profit 167 per cent to A$17.9 million in the 17 weeks ended July 26. The strong result boosted overall profit before tax by 20 per cent for the period.

Group managing director Don Braid said the New Zealand unit was expected to deliver second-half earnings in line with the same period last year.

Analysts at Jarden said the result was “remarkable” and upgraded their forecast for net profit in the March 2021 year by 25 per cent.

Braid also hit back at criticism this week by the NZ Shareholders’ Association, which spoke out against the re-election of one of the firm's directors.

The NZSA said it would vote undirected proxies against the re-election of Bryan Mogridge, citing disappointment with his other directorships at Rakon and Pyne Gould Corp.

It was the only sore point in an otherwise upbeat presentation from Braid, who said, “we are proud of the way we run this business, it is different from a lot of others”.

Afterwards, he said, “we need tenure across the table because we promote from within and what would happen to management if we were changing the board every five years?”