Highlights

  • FY26 sales Revenue from continuing operations reached US$7,042.9 million and Underlying Profit was US$1,494.4 million.
  • A US repair-capacity constraint reduced underlying profit by about US$90 million and left 3.4 million pallets awaiting repair at 30 June 2026.
  • FY27 guidance points to 2–4% sales growth, 2–6% underlying profit growth and free Cash Flow before dividends of US$800–950 million.
  • Brambles plans to expand US repair capacity by around 20% by the end of FY28.

Brambles Limited (ASX:BXB) is a global logistics solutions provider operating primarily through the CHEP brand. Its share-and-reuse network of pallets, crates and containers supports customers across Supply chains in around 60 countries. At 30 June 2026, the group had approximately 352 million pallets, crates and containers. FY26 Earnings grew, although a US repair bottleneck is shaping the FY27 outlook.

FY26 earnings and cash flow

Brambles reported FY26 sales revenue from continuing operations of US$7,042.9 million, up 2% at constant currency. Underlying profit reached US$1,494.4 million, up 4% at constant currency, while the underlying profit Margin improved by 0.6 percentage points. Basic Earnings Per Share from continuing operations were 69.9 US cents and return on Capital invested was 22.6%.

Free cash flow before dividends was US$1,048.2 million. Total dividends were 46.15 US cents per share, including a final Dividend of 23.15 US cents, while Brambles completed US$509 million of on-market share Buybacks during FY26.

Regional performance across the CHEP network

CHEP Americas generated FY26 sales of US$3,867.1 million and underlying profit of US$750.6 million. CHEP EMEA recorded sales of US$2,579.9 million and underlying profit of US$727.5 million, while CHEP Asia-Pacific contributed US$595.9 million of sales and US$214.6 million of underlying profit. Return on capital invested was 21.3% in the Americas, 29.7% in EMEA and 37.0% in Asia-Pacific.

Across the group, price realisation and Volume each added 1% to revenue growth, while net new Business contributed 3%, mainly from the United States and Europe. Efficient repair, asset utilisation and transport flows remain central to profitability.

US repair Backlog remains the main operational issue

The main FY26 pressure was insufficient pallet repair capacity in the United States. Brambles estimated a US$90 million impact on underlying profit and bought around US$40 million of additional pallets to support Customer Service while repairs lagged.

At 30 June 2026, about 3.4 million US pallets were awaiting repair. Brambles aims to clear the backlog by the end of FY28 and increase US repair capacity by around 20%, within non-pooling Capital Expenditure of US$200 million to US$300 million a year.

FY27 guidance and capital returns

For FY27, Brambles guided to constant-currency sales growth of 2–4%, underlying profit growth of 2–6% and free cash flow before dividends of US$800–950 million. Profit growth is expected to be weighted to the second half, with a mid-to-high single-digit decline anticipated in the first half before low double-digit growth in the second half.

The company expects the year-on-year drag from the US repair constraint to moderate to US$35–55 million and plans about US$60 million of additional pallet purchases. Brambles has also authorised up to US$400 million of share buybacks for FY27. Its dividend policy targets a payout of 50–70% of underlying profit, compared with 64% in FY26.

Key Insights

Brambles enters FY27 with improving margins and high returns on capital, but the US repair backlog remains an execution test. Repair capacity, pallet availability and costs will help determine whether the expected second-half improvement develops in line with guidance.