Shares in MaxiTrans have leapt more than 20 percent over two trading days after the trailer maker recorded a rise in net profit attributable to shareholders of 113 percent for the first half of the financial year (FY).
The profit came in at $12.8 million, up from $6 million for the
same half last year.
Equally attractive to investors was the promise of a bumper
full-year profit.
“This is an outstanding result, which reflects strong demand for
our key trailer brands; the benefit of a lower operating cost base;
a growing parts business; and solid contributions from the
acquisition of QDS and Azmeb late in FY12, as well as Transport
Connection in October 2012,” Managing Director Michael Brockhoff
states.
“With an order book which currently extends to June 2013 and a
greater portion of our earnings coming from our parts business, we
are well on track to deliver a record result for FY13.”
The result was driven by continued demand from the mining and
resources sector and “a number of large orders from major fleet
operators”, which saw order intake for trailers and vans up 13
percent on the same period last year.
And the parts business also came to the party.
The combined Colrain and QDS business, MaxiParts, increased revenue
by 91 percent and net profit before tax by 82 percent on the
previous comparable period (pcp).
“The integration of QDS’s operations has been completed and the
projected benefits and synergies from the acquisition are currently
tracking in line with plan,” the company says.
“Strategies are in place to extract further organic growth and to
continue to realise the synergies expected from the combined
business.”
Indeed the parts and service segment represents a significant pivot
for the company and now represents 35 percent of external segment
revenue and 37 percent of segment net profit before tax.
This compares with 16 percent and 11 percent respectively in 2008
and confirms the company’s “strategy of building a more stable and
recurring income and profit stream”, it says.
Freighter’s performance was strong, with sales and order intake up
32 percent and 21 percent, with its order bank up 41 percent.
It wasn’t all good news. Order intake for tippers apart from Azmeb
was hit by a lack of growth in construction and infrastructure
activity across the country and a slowdown in the agricultural
sector.
Agriculture had seen buoyant demand which had helped the business
through the global financial crisis.
“Pleasingly, Azmeb order intake continued to grow as a result of
strong activity in the mining and resources sector and the
successful expansion of distribution coverage across Australia,”
MaxiTrans reports.
Order intake for all tipper products was down 9 percent but sales
rose 66 percent.
For the vans segment, Maxi-Cube and Peki, sales were down 6 percent
and order intakes 20 percent. Against that, MaxiTrans reported an
order bank up 3 percent, with a “very strong January order intake”
and “good demand from major fleets”.
“We are delighted with the strong strategic progress we have made
in the business and that, after careful planning and execution, we
have successfully acquired and integrated three new businesses
which are performing well and delivering the expected synergies and
benefits,” Brockhoff states.