Reality bites for Mainfreight as first quarter pre-tax profits down 43%

Sea and air freight rates will be trimmed. (Image: Mainfreight)

Fri, 28 Jul 2023

New Zealand's biggest publicly listed transport company, Mainfreight, has bumped back down to earth after a record two-year earnings spree, with pre-tax earnings down 43.3% to $83.1 million in the June quarter versus the same period a year earlier. That's on the back of deteriorating global freight volumes, which saw both its Americas and Asian operations hit hardest. The US operations recorded an 80.6% freefall in profit before tax to US$6.1m (NZ$9.8m) from US$164.8m in revenue, while Asia followed suit with a 55.1% drop...

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