By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--Brambles lifted its dividend and announced a fresh US$400 million on-market share buyback after the global pallet giant met its annual profit guidance despite U.S. economic uncertainty weighing on demand.

Australia-listed Brambles on Thursday reported an annual underlying net profit of US$1.37 billion, up by 10% on the prior year once currency moves are stripped out. The company had guided for a rise of 8-11%.

That was despite June-half volume headwinds from rising economic uncertainty and worries over U.S. tariff policy. Sales revenue for the 12 months through June rose by 3% to US$6.67 million, missing April's moderated guidance for a 4-5% rise.

Brambles, which generates more than half of its global revenue from its Americas division, said that volume headwinds were more than offset by net new business wins, which accelerated through the year.

"Achieving these results amid heightened macroeconomic uncertainty underscores the increased resilience of our business, reinforced through our multi-year transformation program," Chief Executive Graham Chipchase said.

The average analyst forecast had been for an underlying net profit of US$1.43 billion from revenue of US$6.93 billion, according to data compiled by Visible Alpha.

The board raised its dividend to 20.83 U.S. cents from 19.0 U.S. cents. Analysts had expected it to remain flat.

Free cash flow before dividends surged by 24% in actual-currency terms to US$1.09 billion, as capital expenditure dropped to 12.3% of sales revenue on factors including lower input costs and efficiencies from Brambles' long-running tech investments.

Brambles, which leases its blue-painted CHEP pallets to companies including fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers, said it would buy back up to US$400 million of its shares in its 2026 fiscal year, which began July 1.

It bought US$403 million of shares on-market in the last fiscal year.

Brambles said it expects fiscal 2026 sales revenue to grow by 3-5% and for underlying profit to grow by 8-11%, excluding the impact of any currency moves. It anticipates free cash flow of between US$850 million and US$950 million.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 20, 2025 18:54 ET (22:54 GMT)

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