Don Braid: Mainfreight General Manager on the company's full year net profit going up a third on the previous year

Transport heavyweight Mainfreight has posted a solid full-year financial result, but international economic uncertainty is causing concerns.

Annual net profit was up nearly a third on the previous year - to  $274.3 million compared to $208.7 million.

Mainfreight General Manager Don Braid says the company's focused on business and what that means for customers around the world.

"We'll do whatever we can to keep the supply chains open for them."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now logistics company main Freight has posted a pretty solid result,
but it's facing the headwinds of international uncertainty. Annual net
profit was up nearly a third on the previous year.
Profits were down in Asia, America and New Zealand. On
the upside, though, Australia is turning out to be a
bit of a winner. Don Braid is the general manager
of main Freighting with us now, Hey.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Don, Hey, Heather, who are you?

Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm very well, thank you? What is going on in Australia?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
I was taking us twenty eight years to get there,
and some of the media and some of the analyst
community thought that we'd bought a dog back in nineteen
ninety eight. Well, the dog's barking. It's good.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
It hasn't taken you that long to turn it around, though,
has it?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
No, not at all, But you know, it's come of
age and it's now even though New Zealand continues to
produce a really good profit for us, and at higher margin,
just as a consequence of the size of the market
and our presence and the great job that our people
have done in Australia, where it's now our biggest revenue

(00:59):
and profit maker.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Fantastic stuff. Now, have you had a chance to look
at what this court ruling means for the tariffs?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Oh, I'm the same as the court ruling about the
migrants that have been re exported or whatever I suggest,
and the Harvard rules. Who knows what would happen. The
key for us is that we focus on business and
what that means for our customers, and we'll do whatever

(01:27):
we can to keep the supply chains open for them.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
What do you think, I mean, do your customers just
act as if like do they just assume the tariffs
are still on and keep going in the same kind
of vein?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Oh? No, interesting. I've just come back from a week
of sales up there into the US and Canada, and
you know, there's really a lot of question marks, a
lot of indecision for both importers, particularly in America, and
certainly a bit of anger and independence forming in the

(01:59):
Canadian business market. But I think they'll take advantage, or
they are taking advantage of the pores and tariffs. We're
seeing bookings for June, you know, up fifty to eighty
odd percent, and as a consequence, the shipping rates are
moving up as well. But they are moving as much

(02:20):
stock as they possibly can get their hands on, because
they are uncertain as to what will happen when the
you know, moratorium on the tariffs is up.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Okay, so what just trying to fill up those warehouses.
Well they've got the chance.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, well whatever, Well they've got the small tariff in place,
they're better to bring the product in. But there's a
lot of indecision as to what will happen post the
tariff deadline.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
I mean, this could backfire, couldn't it, because they might
have been they might be moving really fast to try
to fill the warehouses up at the moment, and then
all of a sudden the tariffs are off all together. Potentially.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, But of course, in when the tariffs came on
on whatever you call it, Liberation Day April and May
or a lot of bookings halted. So you know, nothing
moved during April. Well it's wrong for me to say nothing,
but reduced tonnage has moved in April and May, and
they're trying to make up ground during June and July.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yeah, don listen, I always appreciate your thoughts on politics
here in New Zealand. What did you make? Why are
you laughing?

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Don? Oh, because not much. It was all good. I mean,
we had a name questions from analysts today as we
presented our year end, asking if the twenty percent was
an encouragement to open more cross stocks and warehouses, and
you know, I think that's a mistake. I mean, let's
not forget that the government through it took the tax

(03:45):
the depreciation on buildings off in March of last year,
which actually cost us a lot of money in terms
of that net profit. And just for your records, you
know that was an increase in net profit, but that
was after abnormals of last year. It's the profit before
text that really matters. So I don't know that twenty

(04:06):
percent didn't mean much for us. We'll get on and
do what we've got to do anyway. Otherwise, I don't know.
If there wasn't much other highlights in it.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Was it?

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (04:15):
I mean, look, I don't want to be I don't
always want to be bummed out about these guys and
bumming people out about them. But I can't see a vision.
Do you see a vision for the economy from this
coalition government?

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Well they keep talking about that growth vision and that's
a good thing, and I think that as us in
business have got to continue to do that. We've I mean,
you know, talking about an export lead recovery, and maybe
that is, but it's at the big end of towns,
in the apples, it's in the dairy, and it's in
the kiwi fruit. It's not in the normal everyday export

(04:46):
who's working hard to get their products off shore. We're
not seeing those people benefiting at all. So there's some
indecision around that global economy. I just like them to
get things done. I mean, come back to your comment
about the road cones earlier, I mean, why don't they
just get that sorted? What doesn't Sidmey and Brown make

(05:07):
your decision and get them bad. But that hasn't happened,
is it? No?

Speaker 1 (05:12):
Exactly, thank you. There's too much announcing and rennouncing and
re announcing and re announcing, and we're sitting here waiting
for the thing to happen. Don as always love chatting
to you. Look after yourself. Don Braid, Main Freight general Manager.
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