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 July-September, up 9.0% 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.
Brambles reiterated its full-year free cashflow and underlying profit guidance. It said it expects sales revenue to grow by 5.0%-7.0%, compared with a forecast of 5.0%-6.0% issued last month.
Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com