By Ross Kelly
SYDNEY--Brambles Ltd. (BXB.AU), a provider of wooden pallets and
plastic containers used for transporting goods, upgraded its annual
earnings guidance to account for the contribution of a recent
acquisition in the oil and gas sector.
Brambles said it expects to post an underlying profit for the
year through June, 2015, of between US$1.06 billion and US$1.09
billion. The forecast--based on foreign exchange rates at June
30--would represent annual earnings growth of 9-12%. In August, the
company had targeted annual earnings of between US$1.03 billion and
US$1.06 billion.
In September, the Australian company acquired Ferguson Group, a
supplier of containers to the offshore oil-and-gas industry, for
GBP320 million (US$515 million) including debt.
Brambles, which has a market value of 14.9 billion Australian
dollars (US$13.0 billion), said Monday its revenue in the three
months through September rose 6%.
Write to Ross Kelly at ross.kelly@wsj.com
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