The owner of trucking giant Centurion has reported another big profit after paying $175 million to acquire two family-owned transport businesses.
The owner of trucking giant Centurion has reported strong growth in revenue and another big profit after paying $175 million to acquire two family-owned transport businesses.
Centurion is part of the Cardaci family’s CFC Group, which in turn is owned by Leone Family Holdings.
Annual accounts lodged with ASIC show the group lifted revenue by 17.4 per cent to $1.33 billion for the year to June 2024.
That reinforced CFC’s standing as one of WA’s top 10 private companies, according to Business News’ Data & Insights.
The annual accounts disclosed details of two major acquisitions the group had previously announced.
In July last year, it paid $82.3 million in cash to buy Rockhampton-based Rocky’s Own Transport, which operated mainly in Queensland and WA.
In November last year, it paid $92.8 million for the assets of ABC Transport, a general freight business largely operating between South Australia and Northern Territory.
The group’s financial statements show it took on a lot more debt during the year, presumably to pay for the acquisitions.
Total borrowings went from about $38 million to $247 million.
Its lease liabilities also increased substantially, from $148 million to $228 million.
While liabilities spiked, total equity recorded a modest increase to $211 million.
That was boosted by last year’s net profit of $37.1 million, down a little from the prior year.
The group did not declare or pay a dividend, meaning the profit went straight to retained earnings.
Centurion is the largest part of CFC Group, which also includes machinery distributor CEA, contractors Cape and Dunstans and Birchmead Property Group.
Centurion now employs more than 2400 people across 35 sites, deploying more than 900 prime movers and over 3000 trailers on transport routes throughout Australia.
The group’s annual accounts shows that haulage income (from Centurion) jumped 28 per cent to $760 million.
Income from other sources increased to $573 million.
Chief executive Justin Cardaci said the two acquisitions aligned with Centurion’s strategy to build a national network and expand services in the mining and agriculture sectors.
Rocky’s Own Transport has predominantly served mining and resources customers with transporting explosives and dangerous goods.
It added about 300 employees to the group.
ABC was a general freight business that added 260 employees.
“This acquisition adds an important and central corridor into our national presence, providing further opportunities to leverage our existing operations in Australia’s West, East and North,” Mr Cardaci said.
“Our vision is for a seamless national footprint and this acquisition, with its Adelaide to Darwin focus, is a key part of that.
“We will continue looking for ways to grow our trusted service and build on our commitment to service the regional communities of Australia.”
Meanwhile, the Cardaci family has become more active on the philanthropic front after establishing CFC Group Foundation in 2022.
A total of $4.5 million has been put into the foundation while $520,000 has been paid out in gifts, according to its FY23 annual report lodged with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.
The gifts included a “multi-year gift commitment” of $500,000 to Ruah Community Services, which recently opened a new centre for women and children fleeing domestic violence.
The foundation would rank at number 32 on Business News’ listing of philanthropic foundations in WA.
