Sydney, Feb 23, 2026, 17:50 AEDT — The market has closed.
- Brambles finished the day roughly 1.2% higher at A$24.52, standing apart from a softer overall market.
- Filings show the company is listing 15,047 ordinary shares tied to employee incentive plans.
- Attention shifts to the speed of share buybacks and the March 11 ex-dividend date.
Shares of Brambles Ltd (BXB.AX) picked up 1.2% to close at A$24.52 on Monday, bucking a weaker market. The logistics company extended its advance, still riding momentum from last week’s half-year results.
Brambles is in focus, and it’s all about cash at the moment. The company bumped up its FY26 free cash flow guidance last week, now targeting between US$950 million and US$1.1 billion after capital expenditures. Underlying profit growth targets are unchanged, but they narrowed the revenue growth range. “We delivered a resilient first-half result, with strong operating leverage and free cash flow outcomes, despite ongoing demand headwinds in key markets,” CEO Graham Chipchase said.
Brambles, in a pair of Monday filings, moved to list 15,047 new ordinary shares from its performance share plan—split between one tranche of 14,740 and another of 307. The shares were priced at A$23.9856 each, according to the documents. With about 1.36 billion shares already on issue, this latest addition won’t move the dial on dilution.
The half-year briefing transcript put it plainly: execution’s holding up, but demand is sluggish. “Consumer demand remained weak, particularly in the US and Europe,” Chipchase said to investors. Brambles closed out the half sitting on roughly 4 million surplus pallets in the US—an overhang that drives up storage, handling and repair costs. Brambles Corporate Site
Jarden raised its target on Brambles, bumping it up to A$25.60 from A$23.10, while sticking with a neutral stance, a broker note summary showed. The broker cited operating leverage at CHEP Americas and noted core EPS beat consensus, but also highlighted softer profit numbers out of CHEP EMEA.
The S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.61% Monday as IT, healthcare, and A-REIT stocks dragged on the index. Brambles, sitting in the transport and logistics sector, bucked the trend.
Brambles, operator of the CHEP pooled pallet system, rents out reusable pallets and crates to both retailers and manufacturers. The company’s leadership says raising prices should help cover “cost-to-serve” inflation. They’re also counting on new business wins to balance out softer volumes coming from current clients.
The cycle hasn’t gone away for the company. Should U.S. and European demand remain soft, or if customers stick with bare-bones inventories, pallet volumes may stumble while excess pallets pile up—resulting in more transport and repair jobs, but tighter margins.
The dividend timeline is front and center for investors. According to Market Index, shares will trade ex-dividend on March 11, meaning buyers from that date won’t get the interim payout. The payment is scheduled for April 9. The following reporting date lands in late August.
