Freightways Group Limited

Overview

Freightways is an operator of express logistics businesses in the express package, business mail, information management and waste renewal industries in both New Zealand and Australia. Across its brands Freightways handles over 100 million items every year utilising its core capabilities of ‘picking up, processing and delivering’ efficiently and at scale.

The company’s origins go back to 1964 in New Zealand, with the incorporation of New Zealand Couriers (an express package business), and 2007 in Australia, with the acquisition of Databank (an information management business). It has achieved growth on both sides of the Tasman both organically and through acquisition opportunities.

Freightways’ securities were listed in New Zealand in 2003.

Performance

The following information was extracted from Freightways Group Limited's full year results, released 17 August 2026:

Freightways delivered a resilient performance in FY26 despite operating conditions becoming more challenging during the second half of the financial year. Economic activity had shown encouraging signs of improvement through much of the year before being disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East, which drove a sharp increase in fuel prices. The combination of higher fuel costs and softer customer demand created a drag during the final quarter on a result which was otherwise strong for the group.

Against this backdrop, we remained focused on the areas within our control. We maintained high service standards, continued to win market share, invested in improving our operating platforms and facilities, and maintained disciplined capital allocation. These actions continue to position the business well for when economic conditions improve.

Higher fuel prices affect our business in two ways. First, rapid increases temporarily compress margins because fuel recovery mechanisms inevitably lag underlying fuel costs. Secondly, higher fuel costs reduce discretionary spending across the economy, lowering freight volumes as consumer and business activity slows. After modest same-customer volume growth during the second and third quarters, volumes within our New Zealand Express Package and Temperature Controlled divisions softened from April as these factors took effect. The tightening of monetary conditions by the RBNZ also contributed to a softer economic environment.

During the year we improved one of our key commercial levers. Historically, a number of our fuel recovery mechanisms incorporated a two-month lag between movements in fuel prices and customer pricing. While this had long reflected customer requirements, the sharp increase in fuel prices highlighted the need for a more responsive approach. From April we substantially reduced this lag to around one week across most of the network, which will improve our ability to recover rapid movements in fuel costs in future periods.

Despite weaker market conditions, our businesses remained focused on growing through market share gains, winning new customers and improving pricing to recover our cost input increases. This approach has become increasingly important during periods of limited same-customer growth. Pricing discipline was a key priority, with annual pricing reviews and pricing-for-effort initiatives helping to recover increases in the cost base while ensuring customers continue to receive appropriate value for the services provided.