SYDNEY--Brambles Ltd. (BXB.AU) reported a sharp rise in
half-year profits on Wednesday, helped by a US$663.7 million gain
on the demerger of its document storage and destruction business
Recall Holdings Ltd. (REC.AU).
Brambles--the world's biggest supplier of wooden pallets, used
to transport goods ranging from autos to fruit--said its net profit
for the six months through December totaled US$959 million, up from
US$303 million a year earlier.
Underlying profits, which strip out the gain on the Recall
demerger, rose 10% on the year to US$458 million in the six-month
period.
Sydney-based Brambles listed Recall in December after failing to
sell the business in 2012 amid Europe's debt crisis. Recall shares
have risen just 1.1% since their debut on the Australian Securities
Exchange, reflecting investor concerns that new technologies such
as cloud computing are threatening the traditional document storage
and destruction business.
Brambles proposed an interim dividend of 13.5 Australian cents
(US$0.12) a share.
"We continue to expect underlying profit for the 2014 financial
year to be within the previous guidance range of US$930 million to
US$965 million," Brambles Chief Executive Tom Gorman said in a
statement.
The company also said it planned to strip US$100 million in
costs out of the business over the five fiscal years through
2009.
-Write to David Winning at david.winning@wsj.com
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