Brambles, Wal-Mart extend old pallets act

PALLETS provider Brambles Industries has extended its agreement with US supermarkets giant Wal-Mart by five years to ensure that the Americans have an uninterrupted flow of one of the most essential items in bulk buying.

GKN shareholders who took up their stake in Brambles, created from the merger of the Australian support services company and the industrial arm of GKN, will see this as a sign of recovery at the troubled group.

Chief executive Sir CK Chow expects the Chep pallets and containers business to improve in the second half.

Pre-tax profits slipped 14% to £160m in the six months to last December, mainly as a result of its Chep business, although its Cleanaway division did well from waste disposal in Britain. The shares today rallied 6 1/2p to 299 1/2p.