06/09/05 Brambles Names Mezzanotte as Operations Head for CHEP

Brambles Industries Ltd., the world's biggest supplier of pallets used to move and store goods, named David Mezzanotte as the company's chief operating officer for CHEP, its biggest business.

Mezzanotte, 50, is currently president of CHEP Americas, the Sydney-based company said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange today. The performance of CHEP, the group which runs the pallet business, helped Brambles post a 74 percent gain in second- half profit last month.

Chief Executive David Turner said earnings may rise again this year and flagged plans to model CHEP Europe closely on the U.S. business where Mezzanotte increased volumes and costs dropped. Brambles, which also provides waste management, document storage and industrial services, gets almost half its sales and 64 percent of earnings from CHEP.

CHEP's Americas division, made up of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, increased sales by 10 percent last year, outpacing a 7 percent gain in CHEP Europe, the biggest of Brambles' pallet units.

Shares of Brambles fell 0.3 percent to A$8.86. the stock surged 28 percent this year, outpacing a 10 percent gain in the S&P/ASX 200 Index.

Brambles said Mark Luby, now president of CHEP Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa, will return to Australia for the new position as senior vice president of business development. Luby is 53.

Mezzanotte joined Brambles in 2001 as a senior vice president of sales with CHEP in the U.S. He previously worked for New Jersey- based Honeywell International Inc. and Delaware-based DuPont Co. and has a Ph.D in metallurgical engineering and material science from the University of Notre Dame.

``Dave's experience and leadership ability will allow us to build on this foundation and generate further improvements in how CHEP operates,'' Turner said in the statement.

To contact the reporter of this story:
Vesna Poljak in Sydney vpoljak@bloomberg.net