By Stuart Condie
SYDNEY--Brambles Ltd. said North American customer growth was constrained at the start of its 2022 fiscal year by pallet shortages that it doesn't see being resolved until the fourth quarter.
The Australia-listed pallet supplier reported sales revenue from continuing operations of US$1.29 billion for the three months through September, up 9% after stripping out the impact of currency swings.
It said supply-chain disruptions due to shortages of labor and transport contributed to industry-wide scarcity of new pallets. It also experienced lower levels of returns and longer cycle times in North America, where like-for-like volumes declined and new customer growth was stunted.
"We prioritized servicing existing customer demand over new customer wins," Chief Executive Graham Chipchase said.
Mr. Chipchase said Brambles incurred additional plant and transport costs to collect, relocate and repair existing pallets.
Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com