DataRoom: Qube riding high but Patrick Terminals purchase unlikely

Qube has seen its share price go well on strong container volumes. Picture: Andrej Ivanov/AFP

With its share price trading at all-time highs, the $7.3bn Qube Holdings is a result to watch this reporting season.

The Australian listed group reports its half-year result on February 20 is riding high on strong container volumes.

Its surging share price could position it well for an equity raising to fund mergers and acquisitions, should it choose to do so.

There have been discussions over the years about whether it would buy Brookfield’s 50 per cent interest (worth at least $2bn) in the Patrick Terminals business — it owns the other half — but it’s not on the cards right now, sources say.

For the first six months of the 2025 financial year, container volumes were up 8.9 per cent across the market.

Danish shipping giant Maersk recently flagged 6 per cent growth for container volumes in the 2025 calendar year.

This could spark further M&A throughout the sector, with Allegro Funds potentially selling its logistics business Team Global Express or Australia and New Zealand company Mondiale VGL, which had been earmarked for a sale last year.

Sources say any sale of the Patrick interest would probably be at 15 times earnings, implying $2.4bn.

Patrick, an Australian seaport operator with operations in Brisbane, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney, was previously listed on the ASX.

Qube has the pre-emptive right to buy the remaining half in Patrick it does not already own.

Qube in the past has told analysts it was looking at opportunities which provided scale and scope.

Brookfield has owned the share of Patrick since 2017.

The fund in which the business is held is now nearing the end of its life.