overview

Sydney - Thursday - November 27: (RWE Aust Business News)
*********************************************************

OVERVIEW
********

Brambles Ltd (ASX:BXB) is a hard stock to call - whether to buy
or sell, that is the question.
The OECD has painted a gloomy picture of the global economy which
in turn means a fall in the transport of goods, a real worry to a company
like Brambles.
But Brambles chief executive Mike Ihlein told shareholders at the
annual meeting this week that he expects sales revenue to grow in all
regions for its CHEP and Recall business in FY09.
Comparable operating profit for the group is expected to be
broadly in line with the previous year.
Brambles shares have fallen two days in a row and yesterday
touched a low of $6.36 for the year.
Although operating profit for CHEP Americas is expected to be
10pc lower this will be offset in constant currency terms by the rest of
the business.
Brambles achieved 4pc growth on a like-for-like basis in sales
revenue for the first four months of FY09.
CHEP Americas was up 4pc, CHEP Europe, Middle East and Africa up
4pc, CHEP Asia-Pacific up 3pc and Recall up 6pc.
"Our emphasis on organic growth, geographic expansion and the
search for new business opportunities will continue with great energy,"
Mr Ihlein told the AGM.
"My confidence in Brambles's ability to deliver higher rates of
growth over the medium to long term is undiminished.
"This will be achieved by being totally committed to our
customers, our markets and our people and maintaining our culture of
continuous improvement," Mr Ihlein declared.
In the update at the annual meeting, chairman Graham Kraehe said
the operating environment had been challenging, due to the rapid
deterioration of the world's leading economies, and may remain so through
2009 and possibly beyond, particularly in the USA and Europe.
"One of the great strengths of Brambles is its outstanding CHEP
and Recall business franchises," Mr Kraehe said.
"We are confident that Brambles is well placed to deliver good
overall performance during these challenging times due to:
* Our geographic diversity, with operations in 46 countries;
* Our substantial customer base in the fast moving consumer goods
industry which, while not immune from downturn, is generally more
resilient in these conditions; and
* Our ability to generate growth through winning new business,
particularly in an environment of elevated cost-sensitivity for our
customers."

SHARE PRICE MOVEMENTS
*********************

Shares of Brambles fell 21c to $6.44 yesterday. Rolling high for
the year is $13.25 and low $6.36. Dividend is 34.5c to yield 5.36 per
cent. EPS is 47.79c while p/e ratio is 13.48. The company has 1.3 billion
shares on issue with a market cap of $8.9 billion.
Back in October CHEP USA reached a new agreement with Walmart
over continued participation in the giant retailer's logistics network.
The agreement maintained the benefits of Total Pallet Management
(TPM) for CHEP and the supply chain overall.
Under the new agreement, Walmart third-party service providers
will inspect and quality sort CHEP pallets at the service providers'
facilities or, in some cases, at Walmart distribution centres (DCs).
Pallets meeting CHEP's quality criteria will be available for
re-issue directly to CHEP manufacturer customers thereby maintaining the
supply chain benefits of TPM.
CHEP pallets requiring repair will continue to be processed at
CHEP service centres before being re-issued to CHEP manufacturer
customers.
These service centres are or will be located in close proximity
to the Walmart service provider facilities in order to minimise
transportation costs to CHEP and the overall supply chain.
The new arrangements have been implemented.
Brambles said there was no impact on sales revenue or issue
volumes from the new arrangements.
In September, the company suspended its share buy-back program.
Brambles said it will assess further capital management
initiatives at an appropriate time in the future.

BACKGROUND
**********

Brambles was restructured and re-listed on November 27, 2006.
It is now a leading global provider of support services,
operating in over 45 countries and employing over 12,000 people.
The group's businesses are CHEP and Recall.
Brambles's global headquarters are in Sydney.
It has a primary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange
and a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Brambles has total assets of $US5.6 billion as at June 30.
The CHEP pallet pooling system of re-using and recycling pallets
significantly reduces customers' use of resources and waste - by an
estimated seven million tonnes of landfill a year in the US alone.
Over the years, Brambles's activities in the security business
had grown to the point where, by the late 1990s, Brambles Security
Services annually moved billions of dollars of cash, gold and valuables
around Australia and overseas.
In June 2000 Brambles sold its security business to Chubb,
following a change in the market dynamics.
In 2001, GKN plc demerged its support services activities, which
were then listed on the London Stock Exchange as Brambles Industries plc.
Brambles Industries plc and Brambles Industries Ltd, which was
listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, were combined in a dual-listed
company structure.
In November 2005, Brambles announced it would streamline the
group and focus on CHEP and Recall.
Over the next year, all the Cleanaway, Brambles Industrial
Services and regional businesses were divested.
The proceeds from the divestment program totalled $US3.6 billion.
The unification of Brambles was completed in December 2006 and
Brambles Ltd became the holding company of the Brambles group of
companies.