In the weeks before Christmas, Brambles found that retailers were reducing the amount of stock they were ordering and holding, and hence needed fewer pallets. As a result, the company faced higher transport costs because of an increase in the number of pallets being returned. And because Brambles routinely repairs pallets when they are returned, its repair costs also skyrocketed. The Brambles profit decline came out of the blue. The fall wiped A$3.1 billion off the value of the pallets company after sending its shares down nearly 16 per cent.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 29, 2017 15:56 UTC