MFT

[ShareCafe]

Another strong result from Mainfreight. Been a good steady performer and maybe good for the buy-and-hold portfolio at current price. I'd rather see it cheaper to get really enthused...though that doesn't seem particularly likely today.

[Paper Tiger]

The Song Remains The Same

 

[Lizard]

There is a bit more detail in the numbers on the Mainfreight site.

 

Sadly, they have not attached the presentation and I have not yet e-mailed the NZX for a copy.

 

A good company, another good result, but hard to get excited at current price ($7.18) which seems fair value.

[Lizard]

Any moment, you are going to be offered the chance to buy it at below $6.85. B)

 

Still, I would think there is more squeeze to come and, hopefully, a at least a smattering of doubt among investors to be seen before it becomes attractive.

[Lizard]

Now $4.35 offered. Finally starting to see real value in MFT again.

 

Won't be immune to an economic slowdown, but at least it is worth putting on the watchlist now.

[Paper Tiger]

The half year announcement will be soon, we will see what they have to say about the future.

[Lizard]

And here it is. It looked in line with my own forward estimates, but I've just checked a couple of recent broker reports and perhaps they will be more disappointed.

 

(Sorry, you need to be signed into "My NZX" to view that link to the financials and they are only available for 3 months. Alternatively, here is the link to the announcement on Stockness, which should stand the test of time)

[Paper Tiger]

Summary says "A satisfactory result" and "Trading into our third quarter, traditionally our strongest, has been encouraging"

I do wish they would not hype things up so much.

 

Increased revenue, increased profit, increased dividend. It might be worth it's share price B)

[Guest]

Company:

MAINFREIGHT LIMITED

 

Code:

MFT

 

Website

http://www.mainfreight.com/

 

[nipper]

Mainfreight is a NZX listed Company, so it does not feature too highly in the consideration of many Australian investors. Which is a shame, as it has been doing well, and doing right.

It is now the biggest holding in Mirrabooka (MIR) portfolio, at 5.5% with the shareholding around A$20million

 

Mainfreight is a 42 year old transport and logistics business based in Auckland run by executive chairman and founder Bruce Plested and Don Braid.Even a quick scan of the $4.2 billion group's recent NZSX announcements tells you this company is a bit of an outlier, in the best possible way.

 

Lots of companies talk about culture, but very few live it as vividly as Mainfreight appears to.

 

Despite posting a record profit in the year to March 31, Plested's address at the group's recent annual general meeting spent exactly 77 words on financial results, before quickly moving on to weighty matters including climate change and the importance of social housing.

 

And every few months, Mainfreight publishes a report on the exchange written entirely by its team members, talking about the business and their roles. July's document was 72 pages long. All this might sound a little corny, but it clearly translates to strong performance. Mainfreight's share price has more than trebled over the past five years.

 

So when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern put the country in an aggressive lockdown in March as New Zealand tackled the pandemic, Mainfreights first thought was for its people.

 

Braid says he watched turnover sink between 40 per cent and 50 per cent in the initial weeks of the crisis, and the fear was that such conditions could continue. With the New Zealand government supporting businesses through the lockdown with generous wage subsidies, Mainfreight hesitantly applied ... but only after putting through wage cuts for senior staff, and stipulating only those earning less than $NZ200,000 ($182,000) would be able to tap the subsidies.

 

It did not sit right, but we thought if this might save jobs, let's take it, Braid explains.

 

The money , some $NZ10.6 million for 1526 staff , arrived much faster than expected. But Braid and Plested still were not comfortable, so they put it in a separate bank account and thought of it as a sort of emergency buffer.

 

Happily, the business started to turn around quickly as New Zealand adjusted to life under lockdown, and the Mainfreight geographic spread across 26 countries provided welcome diversification. Revenue in New Zealand and Europe was down across April and May, but it was stronger in Australia and stable in the US. Braid said in late May he was cautiously optimistic about the year ahead.

 

So Mainfreight decided to hand back the untouched wage subsidies. It was the most important thing we do. We felt we did not deserve it, Braid says.

 

The logic was simple. The New Zealand government had done the right thing by Mainfreight and the country, and the executive team were unanimous in their view that other businesses needed assistance more than they did.

 

It's about integrity and it's about what we stand for. ...We are a pretty proud business and we see those things as important, Brad says.

 

Hilariously, the idea was easier said than done. In this case at least, the bureaucracy was geared up for giving, not taking. It was harder to give it back than it was to take it ... they did not know what do with it, Braid laughs. He's suitably diplomatic when asked for his views on those companies that have taken JobKeeper and still paid healthy dividends. Each to their own. But I know what's important at Mainfreight.

https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/why-this-fr...20200823-p55ofk