Lindsay Australia has marked the start of 2025 with a major announcement, having acquired south-west Western Australian integrated logistics and packaging company GJ Freight.

The Sales Agreement to acquire the assets and staff of GJ Freight was executed in February 2025 and will see Lindsay dramatically expand its capabilities in Western Australia, with operations set to commence on April 1.

GJ Freight currently operates six sites in the region and generates over $20 million in annual revenue.

“The bolt-on acquisition of GJ Freight represents an exciting step in expanding our network into a new region, enhancing our integrated transport and packaging offer,” Lindsay Australia CEO Clay McDonald says.

The announcement of the acquisition has come amid mixed financial results in the first half of the 2025 financial year, with strong Rural results helping prop up overall Group earning caused by “difficult” trading conditions.

Overall, Lindsay’s operating revenue grew 3.6 per cent to $432.8 million, with its Rural revenue growing 7.4 per cent to $85.1 million.

Underling EBITDA fell 9.2 per cent to $47.3 million, with underlying NPAT falling %19.6 per cent to $15.8 million.

Net debt also grew 5.7 per cent to $127.4 million.

Lindsay also invested $22.2 million into its fleet and facilities, including $16.8 million to fleet and mobile assets and $5.9 million directed towards facility upgrades.

Q1 2024 saw Lindsay open a new facility in Melbourne, while the company’s Western Australian operations are set to be further bolstered by the opening of a new Perth facility in Q4. Upgrades to facilities in Gatton and Adelaide will also be completed in the interim.

The new Melbourne facility has resulted in the support of a volume increase of 10.7 per cent in the region.

Transport revenue continued its ongoing growth trend, however that growth has significantly slowed compared to this time last year. It increased from $248 million at HY24 to $261 million at HY25.

Rail revenue suffered a slight dip from $70 million at HY24 to $68 million at HY25, however the upcoming opening of Lindsay’s new Perth facility later this year expected to unlock rail growth opportunities.

Lindsay’s Hunter operations contributed a full six months of trade with sales of $50.8 million compared to $38.1 million in the pcp (five months trade).

The division’s EBITDA decreased 14.6 per cent to $1.3 million in the face of challenging conditions, particularly in trade and building related categories in the Victorian market.

Clay says the Lindsay is still well-positioned for continued growth and profitability despite challenging conditions over 1HFY25.

“The refrigerated transport sector has faced significant challenges over the past 12 months, with increased industry capacity, customer rate pressures, subdued demand, weather disruptions and rising costs intensifying competition,” he says.

“While Lindsay remains well positioned, the challenges have impacted first-half results with recent disruptions in North Queensland adding further operational challenges.

“With no clear timeline for market normalisation, our focus remains on operational fundamentals and executing our enterprise strategy.

“Lindsay’s strong balance sheet, scale, experience and national network position us to capitalise on growth opportunities, even in a challenging environment.”