"We have looked around for a long time in Aussie for an express package business like this," Troughear said.
The purchase came about after Troughear was flicking through Freightways files, happening across a confidentiality agreement signed with Allied in 2005.
"We got to know them over the years and it's a really good business," he said.
"We have similar operating culture and we are really impressed with what they do.
"They don't compete with Australia Post or TNT - they operate in a niche," he said.
"But in Australia niches are really big."
Allied deals in the part of the market that is a little more difficult - packages 22kg and over - and typically flat-pack furniture.
"This transaction gives us a successful model for enhancing our offering on both sides of the Tasman, leveraging Freightways' core capabilities in express pick-up, processing and delivery while creating a niche in oversized freight at the same time," he said.
In its result, Freightways reported a 4.1 per cent lift in June year net profit to $73.9m, excluding the impact of the last payment due for the 2020 acquisition of Big Chill.
The earn-out provision for Big Chill was $3.7m, compared with a provision of $23m in the previous year.
The key driver of the improved result was the company's information management business, which is relatively immune from the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns.
Conversely, the express package business was affected by lockdowns and worker absence due to the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Revenue reached $873.1m, a 9 per cent increase year-on-year, with ebita (earnings before interest, taxes, and amortisation) of $130.2m, up 1 per cent.
Freightways' final dividend was 19cps, bringing the full year dividend to 37cps, up 3.5cps on last year's.
Troughear said that despite challenges with frontline workforce numbers, the supply chain and the labour market due to Covid-19, surges in demand and spikes in new customers after lockdowns provided a reasonable year-end result and increased the company's market share overall.
As with many other businesses, Freightways' frontline workforce was heavily impacted by Omicron.
Freightways' customers were also affected, and it resulted in softer volumes in the second half of the year.
"This impact was offset to a large extent by market share gains, surges in volume when restrictions lifted and tailwinds from businesses in our network including Big Chill Distribution and Med-X which continue to be standout performers," he said.
The company said the first six weeks of the 2023 financial year had been characterised by a slight 1 per cent decline in express package items consigned, on the prior comparative period.
Existing customers were trading 5 per cent lower than in the previous comparable period, offset largely by a net 4 per cent market share gain.
Freightways' business-to-business trade was down 5 per cent and its business-to- consumer trade was down 11 per cent.
"We believe the current impact on customer trade we are seeing is driven by a range of factors including a chronic shortage of labour which is restricting businesses from reaching their optimal output, continued disrupted supply chains and some slowing of economic activity," Troughear said.
Looking ahead, Troughear expects the labour market to remain tight for a while yet.
"Certainly the economy will be under a bit of pressure," Troughear said.
"But for how long is anyone's guess."
