Brambles
About Brambles

About Brambles

Brambles is a supply-chain logistics company operating in more than 60 countries, primarily through the CHEP and IFCO brands.

Brambles’ purpose is to connect people with life’s essentials every day. Through its share and reuse model, Brambles moves more goods to more people in more places than any other organisation. That’s how Brambles contributes to a more sustainable future.

What Brambles does

As a pioneer of the sharing economy, Brambles has created one of the world’s most sustainable logistics businesses.

Its circular business model perpetuates the share and reuse of the world’s largest pool of reusable pallets, crates and containers. This enables Brambles to serve its customers while minimising the impact on the environment and improving the efficiency and safety of supply chains around the world.

Brambles’ platforms form the invisible backbone of global supply chains, primarily serving the fast-moving consumer goods, fresh produce, beverage, retail and general manufacturing industries. The world’s largest brands trust Brambles to help them transport life’s essentials more efficiently, safely and sustainably.

How Brambles creates value

Brambles uses the power of its circular business model, network advantage and unique expertise to leverage the key capital inputs into its business to generate significant value for customers, shareholders and employees.

For customers, Brambles’ end-to-end supply chain solutions deliver operational, financial and environmental efficiencies not otherwise available through one-way, single use alternatives. Further details are available below.

For shareholders, Brambles delivers sustainable growth at returns well in excess of the cost of capital and seeks to generate sufficient cash flow through the cycle to fund dividends and support reinvestment in growth, innovation and the development of its people. Further details are available below.

For shareholders, Brambles provides development and exciting career opportunities in over 60 countries. By fostering a culture of innovation and agility, Brambles seeks to attract and retain the talent which is integral to its success.

In a resource constrained world, circular business models like that operated by Brambles are recognised as a critical economic evolution to enable the world to trade more responsibly. By regenerating what it extracts and by providing its products via a service, Brambles helps reduce both the constant pressure on natural resources and the waste production typical of conventional linear business models. Brambles capitalises on its unique position in the supply chain to enable customer collaboration and address sustainable development challenges, such as optimising transport networks and addressing food waste and promoting sustainable use of the world’s forests. In this way, Brambles creates a circular economy, on a global scale.

As a first step towards producing an integrated value story, Brambles has used the Integrated Reporting (<IR>) ‘capitals’ framework,1 to illustrate the interaction and interdependencies between its sources of value, business model and ability to create value over time. This is outlined in the infographic here.

¹ The International Integrated Reporting <IR> Framework.

As at 30 June 2018, Brambles:

Operated in...

60+

countries

Employed...

~12,000

people

Owned...

~610 million

pallets, crates and containers

Through a network of...

850+

service centres

Our Brands and Operations...

Brambles operates primarily through the CHEP and IFCO brands and manages its businesses within the following operating segments:

The RPC (Reusable Plastic Crates) businesses in Europe, North America, South America and Asia operating under the IFCO brand

The pallet and container pooling businesses in the Americas

The pallet and container pooling businesses in EMEA and the CHEP-branded RPC business in South Africa

The pallet and container pooling businesses in Asia-Pacific and the CHEP‑branded RPC business in Australia and
New Zealand

View our Countries of Operation

Visit the CHEP Website

Visit the IFCO Website

Visit the BXB Digital Website

Visit the Kegstar Website

Operating Model

Brambles manages the world’s largest pool of reusable pallets, crates and containers. As a pioneer of the sharing economy, Brambles promotes the shared use of its platforms among multiple supply chain participants, under a circular ‘share and reuse’ model known as pooling.

Through its inherently sustainable operating model, superior network advantage and unique expertise, Brambles leads the market in smarter and more sustainable supply chains.

Inherently Sustainable Operating Model

Brambles’ share and reuse model follows the principles of the circular and sharing economies, creating more efficient supply chains by reducing operating costs and demand on natural resources. By promoting the share and reuse of assets among multiple parties in the supply chain, Brambles offers customers a more efficient and sustainable alternative to the use of disposable products or managing their own proprietary platforms.

Network Advantage and Supply Chain Expertise

Brambles’ sustainable operating model is underpinned by its superior network advantage and industry-leading supply chain expertise, developed over 70 years of managing customers’ supply chains around the world. With operations in over 60 countries, Brambles’ network advantage comprises the scale and density of its service centre network and the strength of its customer relationships in every market in which it operates. This means Brambles can be faster and more responsive to customers’ needs.

Sustainability Framework

Brambles’ sustainability framework organises the Group’s sustainability activities and goals under three broad programmes: Better Business; Better Planet; and Better Communities.

The Group’s 2020 goals are incorporated into this framework and address the material sustainability aspects of Brambles’ value chain. These goals are also aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, which aligns with Brambles’ sustainable business model. Further details of Brambles’ sustainability framework and 2020 goals are located on Brambles’ website.

In FY18, Brambles’ Sustainability Risk Committee conducted a review of the economic, environmental and social sustainability risks to which the Group is subject. This review identified material sourcing and safety as the Group’s material sustainability risks. Details of the Group’s FY18 safety performance and material sourcing are detailed on pages 10 and 11, respectively. A full review of Brambles’ sustainability risks and performance will be included in the 2018 Sustainability Review, which will be available on Brambles’ website in September 2018.

Customer Value Proposition

Brambles’ pallets, crates and containers form the invisible backbone of the global supply chain. This gives Brambles unique insights that help customers meet evolving consumer demands while minimising their environmental impact and improving the safety and efficiency of their supply chains.

With a comprehensive suite of supply chain solutions, Brambles provides customers with operational, financial and environmental efficiencies not otherwise available through the use of disposable alternatives and proprietary models.

End-to-End Supply Chain Solutions

Brambles is integral to customers’ supply chains, working closely with all participants including manufacturers, producers, growers and retailers. With end-to-end visibility, Brambles has unique insights into what impacts the safe, efficient and sustainable operation of global supply chains.

By leveraging these insights and its unmatched expertise, Brambles offers customers comprehensive solutions that improve the performance of the supply chain. This helps address the challenges associated with the increasing complexity and rapid evolution of modern supply chains. Brambles’ suite of customer solutions comprises:

Platform Solutions

Brambles offers customers the widest range of supply-chain platforms including: pallets (timber, plastic and display), Reusable Plastic Crates (RPCs), bins, specialised containers as well as unit-load containment and safe handling equipment.

By eliminating the need for customers to purchase and manage their own platforms, Brambles reduces the capital requirements and complexity of customers’ operations while simultaneously reducing waste from their supply chains.

Brambles conducts in-depth studies of customers’ supply chains to map the flow of goods, information and platforms in order to identify the causes of network inefficiencies and product damage.

By determining the optimal mix of platforms and processes for customers’ individual supply chains, Brambles can mitigate network inefficiencies and ensure the safe and sustainable transportation of goods through the supply chain.

Brambles’ superior network scale provides a unique capability to coordinate collaboration between multiple supply chain participants to deliver transport efficiencies. This includes matching and eliminating empty transport lanes, sharing transport and contracting transport for and from customers.

Brambles works closely with customers to develop storesolution strategies and consumer-facing platforms that improve the efficiency of the shared supply chain by increasing sales at lower costs to the supplier, retailer and consumer.

These merchandising and fulfilment solutions, which include full size and fractional display pallets, trays and RPCs, effectively reduce the time, labour and activity required to move goods from the point of production to the point of sale.

Using its experience in managing platforms, optimising automated facilities and packaging performance testing, Brambles has developed solutions that improve the overall performance and efficiency of customers’ facilities. These solutions include: customising customers’ platform processes; optimising how customers configure, build and protect product loads; and providing higher quality platforms and engineering services to improve the performance of automated facilities.

Environmental Benefits

Brambles’ supply chain solutions help customers address key sustainability issues by managing deforestation risks associated with sourcing of wood for pallets and preventing the carbon emissions and solid waste associated with the production, use and disposal of single-use platform solutions. In FY18, Brambles helped customers:

Eliminate 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 and 1.4 million tonnes of waste by using pallets and RPCs

Save 1.6 million cubic metres of raw materials through the repair and reuse of pallets

Save 1.7 million trees and 4,100 megalitres of water through the share and reuse of pallets and RPCs

Eliminate 4,719 tonnes of food waste through the use of RPCs

Strategic Priorities

Brambles is committed to being the global leader in platform pooling solutions, with number one market positions in all major regions of operation.

Brambles’ five strategic priorities are integral to this commitment and the delivery of superior value for customers, shareholders and employees over the long term.

Brambles’ network advantage, comprising the scale and density of its customer and service centre network and its industry-leading asset management expertise, is critical to the Group’s value proposition for both its customers and investors.

By investing in platform quality and a differentiated, value-enhancing service offering, Brambles is committed to optimising its network, growing its business and strengthening its industry-leading position.

Through a focus on Group-wide operational and organisational efficiencies, Brambles seeks to offset the impact of cost inflation and competitive price pressures. To achieve additional efficiencies, Brambles will continue to leverage its global scale and implement global best practice in areas such as procurement, plant automation and transport optimisation.

Brambles allocates capital to maintain and grow its existing businesses, to drive innovation and to diversify its portfolio of products and services. Brambles adopts a disciplined approach to capital allocation focused on: growing businesses with proven economic returns; measured expansion of new businesses achieving the right balance between nearand long-term returns; investing in innovation to deliver differentiated customer solutions; and focused strategy in relation to mergers and acquisitions.

A key strategic objective for the Group is to deliver strong and sustainable cash generation. Brambles aims to achieve this through an increased focus on improving asset utilisation, reducing equipment loss and lowering equipment damage rates.

Understanding customers’ evolving needs and providing differentiated value-enhancing solutions is core to the sustainability of Brambles’ business model and competitive advantage.

Faced with a changing retail landscape, including the expansion of e-commerce and omni-channel retail formats, Brambles is investing in new platform solutions that enable its customers to increase sales, gain greater market insights and improve operational efficiencies.

Brambles is also investing in its BXB Digital business, which is working to apply technology to collect and transform data into services that track goods, optimise transport solutions and operations, and improve supply chain efficiency.

Successfully attracting and retaining high calibre people is integral to Brambles’ ongoing success. Brambles’ key priorities for its employees are safety, engagement and capability. The Group is committed to fostering a culture of agility and innovation where employees can grow their skills and capabilities through comprehensive, world-class development programmes.

Investor Value Proposition

Brambles generates value through a virtuous circle that leverages its scale, density and expertise to achieve superior operational efficiencies.

These efficiencies in turn generate cash flow that can either be returned to shareholders or reinvested in the business to fund growth, innovation and development of its people.

Long-Term Value Creation and Superior Shareholder Returns

Brambles shares the efficiencies generated by its scale, density and expertise with its customers, providing a compelling value proposition compared to alternatives. By providing customers with supply chain solutions in over 60 countries, Brambles offers shareholders exposure to geographically diversified earning streams, primarily from the global consumer staples sector.

The supply chains served by Brambles also provide a broad range of growth opportunities including: increasing penetration of core equipment-pooling products and services in existing markets; diversifying the range of products and services; entering new and adjacent parts of existing supply chains; and exploring the digitisation of supply chains.

Within this context, Brambles is committed to striking the right balance between growing its business and delivering superior shareholder returns over the long term. By focusing on its core drivers of value, Brambles expects to deliver:

Sustainable growth and returns well in excess of the cost of capital

  • Sales revenue growth3 in the mid-single digits;
  • Underlying Profit growth3 in excess of sales revenue growth through the cycle; and
  • Strong Return on Capital Invested.

Cash generation to fund growth, innovation and shareholder returns

  • Free Cash Flow sufficient to fully fund capital expenditure and dividends.

Dividend Policy and Payment

By providing customers with supply chain solutions in over 60 countries, Brambles offers shareholders exposure to geographically diversified earning streams, primarily from the global consumer staples sector.

The Board has declared a final dividend for 2018 of 14.5 Australian cents per share, in line with the previous interim and final dividend. The 2018 final dividend will be 30% franked and is payable on 11 October 2018 to shareholders on the Brambles register at 5.00pm on 12 September 2018. The ex‑dividend date is 11 September 2018.

Total dividends for the Year were 29.0 Australian cents per share, in line with the prior year. Brambles paid the 2018 interim dividend of 14.5 Australian cents per share on 12 April 2018.

Dividend Reinvestment Plan

Brambles’ Board maintained the Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP) for the 2018 financial year. Shares issued under the DRP do not attract a discount. Any dilutive impact on earnings per share of DRP-issued shares will be neutralised through the transfer of existing shares to participating shareholders via on-market purchases rather than issuing new shares to them.

ESG Recognition

Third-party Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investor research consistently recognises Brambles’ strong governance processes and the long-term sustainability of its business model and strategies. In 2018, Brambles continues to be placed amongst the leading companies in the global industrial services sector by the following ESG research firms:

Cash Flow from Operations3

US$892.4m

Up US$300.9m

Return on Capital Invested3

16.1%

Down 0.9 percentage points at constant-currency

Brambles Injury Frequency Rate (BIFR)

4.7

Down from 6.6 in FY17

Sales Revenue3

US$5,596.6m

Up 6% at constant-currency

Underlying Profit3

US$996.7m

In line with prior year

Total Dividends

29.0 AU cents per share

Final dividend of 14.5 AU cents per share (30% franked)

3Continuing operations