Linfox profits bounce back for the first time since Covid

Billionaire transport magnate Lindsay Fox has built one of the biggest private companies in Asia. Its profits are finally back to 2019 levels as revenue hits an all-time high.

Profits for Lindsay Fox and his Linfox have bounced back Picture: Valeriu Campan

Electrifying his truck fleet, getting sued for tens of millions in Indonesia, and undertaking a string of mergers and acquisitions.

There is seemingly never a dull moment for colourful billionaire trucking magnate Lindsay Fox and his massive Linfox trucking and logistics business – one of the largest private companies in Australia.

There was also a welcome return to profit growth this year for Linfox, for the first time since Covid hit the world, and had a marked effect on the business, in early 2020.

Financial documents lodged with the corporate regulator on Tuesday showed Linfox’s net profit rising almost 60 per cent to $96.2m in the year to June 30, compared with the $60.4m result recorded in the 2022 financial year.

Linfox’s revenue rose about 6 per cent to a record $3.695bn, while earnings before interest and tax from continuing operations rose to $139.5m for 2023 from $107.3m for the previous corresponding period.

The net profit figure was the highest since the $96.4m Linfox made in 2019, the last full financial year before a series of Covid-related lockdowns, rising supply chain costs and a lack of cash circulating in the Australian economy caused Linfox profits to plunge.

The company, which Mr Fox started with a single truck in 1956 delivering soft drinks in summer and fuel around Melbourne in winter, made a net profit of $16.8m in 2020 and then only $6.1m in 2021 before the improved $60.4m result last year.

Linfox is now Asia Pacific’s largest privately-owned logistics company, employing more than 24,000 people across Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

The business also includes the Linfox Armaguard group, the biggest cash handling group in Australia. In September, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Foreign Investment Review Board granted approval for Armaguard’s merger with rival Prosegur.

The merger came after Linfox’s 2021 accounts were hit by a $100m writedown on its Armaguard investment, due to less cash handling as a result of lockdowns.

Armaguard last October also sold two businesses in New Zealand, Integrated Technology Solutions and Global Integrated Solutions, receiving $30.8m in cash for the deal.

“The nature of the business was electronic retail point of sale equipment and parking meters which was not considered as core to the strategy of the Armaguard Group,” a note in the financial accounts said.

Linfox’s 2023 accounts also revealed it paid $4.5m in March to buy JHC Transport, a freight and transport company, as well as paying another $4.5m for the acquisition of related party business Fox Cold Chain.

The Linfox accounts also said it had doubled the capacity of its solar energy systems installed across its properties in the past year, achieving a capacity of 3MW.

“We also started the installation of batteries in our new developments, to utilise excess of solar in our electric trucks,” Linfox said, adding diesel currently accounts for 85 per cent of its energy use.

The overall group’s revenue is dominated by the trucking and logistics business, accounting for $3.4bn of the $3.695bn annual income.

Almost 10 per cent of the trucking and logistics revenue, about $328m, is derived in Asia, according to the accounts, up from $300m in 2022.

The accounts also reveal some of the legal travails Linfox is experiencing in Indonesia, where it has more than 1900 employees and manages 13 sites throughout the country, including the largest single customer distribution centre in the southern hemisphere.

Linfox’s Indonesian subsidiary has been sued by former employees for unfair dismissal, appealing a judgement against it worth more than $500,000. Some claims have since been settled, as have some class action suits regarding employee entitlements for some drivers.

It was also sued for $12m by an Indonesian contractor it had engaged on the acquisition of land and the construction of the warehouse, but then cancelled the contract.

“[Linfox] considers it legitimately cancelled the arrangement pursuant to its rights,” it said.