Qube profit drops amid contract changes

Logistics group Qube, one of the suitor companies in the Asciano acquisition, has booked a 5pc drop in annual profit.

Qube Chairman Chris Corrigan. Picture: Britta Campion /The Australian.

Logistics group Qube Holdings, one of the suitor companies in the Asciano acquisition, has booked a drop in annual profit amid a restructuring of a number of large contracts.

Qube Holdings (QUB) today booked a net profit of $82 million for the year through June, a 5 per cent fall year-on-year and slightly below analyst expectations.

Revenues for the group shrank 9 per cent to $1.33bn, and Qube said the reduced earnings were largely attributable to the ports and bulk division booking the impact of four major contracts either ending or being restructured during the year.

Qube has embarked on a string of high-profile corporate acquisitions over the year, including the takeover of a 50 per cent stake in the Patrick container terminals in conjunction with Brookfield Infrastructure.

Qube Holdings and Brookfield and six global investment funds recently completed a joint $9 billion takeover bid of Asciano, which became effective at the end of July.

The group also bought Aurizon’s 33 per cent stake in Sydney’s Moorebank development, giving Qube 100 per cent control of the project.

Looking ahead, Qube said it expects to report increased underlying earnings in the coming financial year and does not expect any change to the challenging market conditions.

Qube will pay a final fully-franked dividend of 2.8c per share, bringing the year’s total payout to 5.5c.