Freightways Limited (NZX: FRE) Half Year Results to 31 Dec 2020 and Interim Dividend

Monday 22nd February 2021

From the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Freightways is a resilient and entrepreneurial business. This has been demonstrated through the most disruptive challenge we have seen in recent times.

Through the latter half of 2020 we have been encouraged by growing eCommerce demand fuelling greater express package volume. This will help our industry grow profitably for those who can meet its challenges. We are also excited by the emphasis on waste reduction and increased sustainability initiatives which our destruction business can leverage. Freightways is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of us with loyal customers, high-performing businesses, a strong balance sheet as well as experienced and adaptable teams.

We will return to paying a dividend in April 2021 based on the strong performance of the business in the first half of FY21.

Outlook

Whilst the immediately foreseeable economic climate remains uncertain, we are encouraged by the strong trade in Express Package and the resilience of our Information Management businesses, as demonstrated in our results over the first half of FY21.

We would expect that:

• In Express Package, our existing volumes will be supplemented by market share gains and the growth of eCommerce while our existing B2B volume will be influenced by macro-economic activity;

• In Information Management, whilst storage revenues will remain resilient, our activity-based revenue streams will be driven by the number of people returning to office environments, noting this could be lower than pre-COVID-19.

We have well-established systems and processes to be able to adapt to any future lockdowns in NZ or Australia and we can reasonably expect that B2C Express Package volumes will accelerate in a level 2 or 3 lockdown and that IM activity will decline as office workers move to working from home.

Our portfolio of services will be continually reviewed with a view to delivering superior long-term value to shareholders by assessing our short, medium and long-term opportunities and applying the best allocation of capital to them.

The company will continue to consider growth or acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our existing operations and capabilities. We are proud of our achievements to date in growing contractor incomes, developing new services and reducing emissions per item. We will actively explore future opportunities to enhance our position on these key ESG areas. The Freightways directors would again like to acknowledge the efforts of every one of our team across Australasia.

Please see the links below for details:

NZX Results Announcement Dec 20

Distribution Notice - Interim Dividend December 2020

Half Year Presentation December 2020

Half Year Financial Statements - 31 December 2020

Source: Freightways Limited

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