A drop of 51% in profits, to $4.02 million, has been reported by Transport Company Mainfreight, for the three months to June.

It was expressed by the company at its recent annual meeting that it has dealt with a difficult first quarter.

The company explained that it has achieved the latest profit on revenues of $261.67 million; a 9.5 percent drop on the revenues for the same period a year ago. A fall was noticed in operating earnings (ebitda) for the period by 29.2% at $11.72 million.

Abnormal costs (after tax) of $1.27 million were taken by the company to further restructuring. The company explained, "These abnormal items reduced overall profit to $2.75 million, compared with a post-abnormal profit of $8.23 million at the same time a year ago."

According to Managing director Don Braid, the first three months of the financial year brought difficulties for trading conditions in all the countries that the company operates in.

He added: "But while the group performance had not matched last year's records, the New Zealand international, Australia international and Australia domestic operations of the group had all performed better than in the same period in 2008."

Braid continued that it was no surprise for them to see a decline in performance during the Q1, as the company experienced declines in cargo volumes during the period.

He concluded: "During this time we have taken the opportunity to respond with better margin management, cost reductions and sales strategies - all measures that will stand us in good stead for the future. Trading in July and August sees some improvement and it is our expectation that this will continue into the third and fourth quarters."