Mullen Group Q4 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Mullen called 2025 “challenging,” saying weak growth across all four segments pressured pricing and that management relied on business-unit cost controls plus two acquisitions to help deliver record revenues, describing M&A as a primary lever when organic growth is limited.
• Market dynamics are diverging: Canada remains “pretty loose” with no meaningful capacity tightening yet, while the U.S. is showing tighter capacity and notable spot-price improvement; management expects capacity to tighten “this year” but sees unclear pricing signals in Canada.
• For 2026 the company is leaning on acquisitions and same-store sales guidance — LTL is expected to be relatively flat, logistics/warehousing and U.S. 3PL should grow largely due to the Cole acquisition, specialized and Canadian dewatering are set to improve, and Mullen completed full ownership of Thrive to expand its water/fluid vertical; a first-quarter update is planned for April.

Mullen Group TSE: MTL used its year-end and fourth-quarter earnings call to focus almost entirely on investor questions, with Chair, Senior Executive Officer and President Murray K. Mullen saying there was “nothing new” to add beyond what the company had already released about 2025 results and disclosures. Mullen described 2025 as “challenging,” citing a lack of growth across all four segments that pressured pricing, while management leaned on cost controls at the business-unit level and completed two acquisitions at the corporate level that helped deliver record revenues.

Management reiterates 2025 backdrop and points to M&A as a key lever

Mullen said the company’s business units “had no choice but to tighten up,” framing the response as a way to mitigate downward market pressures. He added that the company completed two acquisitions during the year, and argued that acquisitions can be an important tool when underlying economic growth is limited.

Looking ahead, Mullen tied the prospect of “record earnings” to an eventual rebound in the economy and a stronger environment for Canada-U.S. commerce, as well as what he described as “nation-building commitments” translating into capital work. He did not provide additional financial detail during prepared remarks, instead moving directly to Q&A.

Capacity and pricing: Canada remains “loose,” U.S. shows tighter conditions

In response to a question about whether industry capacity is tightening, Mullen cautioned that January is “really difficult” to use as a read-through because of post-holiday spending patterns and weather disruptions in Eastern Canada. He said the company had not yet seen evidence in Canada that capacity had tightened “in a meaningful way,” and suggested March would be a more telling period for gauging demand recovery.

By contrast, Mullen said conditions in the U.S. appeared different. He told analysts that capacity is tightening in the U.S. and demand fundamentals are stronger there, adding that the company had heard evidence of “quite a significant change” in U.S. spot market pricing, though he noted that contract pricing had not yet shifted. He said he had not seen similar spot-price changes in Canada.

Asked about customer expectations for 2026 pricing in Canada, Mullen said there was still a lack of clarity and likened the situation to a “deer in the headlights scenario.” He said the company was not getting clear signals from customers and that “everybody’s just sitting and waiting.” While he noted more optimism in discussions with peers and customers that conditions could change, he said the current Canadian market remained “pretty loose.”

Why capacity may tighten faster in the U.S. than Canada

Scotiabank’s Konark Gupta asked what might be preventing faster capacity tightening in Canada. Mullen said the U.S. market has seen more bankruptcies and consolidation, describing the U.S. system as more driven by survival dynamics. He also pointed to regulatory measures in the U.S., such as the English proficiency test, which he said Canada is not likely to adopt in the same way.

Mullen emphasized that higher rates require tighter capacity, and he expressed skepticism that government actions in Canada would be the primary driver of that tightening. Still, he said capacity will tighten “this year,” though he could not predict exactly when, adding that conditions were “tough as nails” for many competitors.

2026 outlook discussion: segment-by-segment assumptions and acquisition timing

Gupta also asked how management was thinking about 2026 top-line growth and the split between acquisition-driven growth and market recovery. Mullen reiterated the company’s view that acquisitions are often the “only viable way to grow” when the economy is not growing and capacity has not yet tightened. He said the balance sheet had been positioned to support corporate-level growth and added that the company had already completed “a couple” of acquisitions in 2026.

Senior Financial Officer Carson Urlacher elaborated that the company’s guidance framework was “really based on same-store sales,” and he walked through how management was viewing 2026 versus 2025 across segments:

• LTL: projected to be relatively flat in 2026 versus 2025.
• Logistics and warehousing: expected to be up, primarily due to the timing of the Cole and Cole Group acquisition.
• Specialized: expected to show some growth, supported by capital spending late in 2025 within the Envolve Energy group to increase disposal facility capacity, along with expectations for additional turnaround work that producers had pushed off in 2025.
• Canadian dewatering (within S&I): management expressed a positive view tied to mining projects and related activity.
• U.S. 3PL: expected growth, again linked to the timing of the Cole acquisition.

Urlacher also referenced tuck-in activity within fluid management under the company’s Thrive group, describing it as aligned with areas where management expects greater drilling activity. Management discussed completing the remaining ownership transaction for Thrive, making Mullen Group the 100% holder of the business. Mullen described Thrive as one of the company’s better private investments and said Brian (from the Thrive team) would join the corporate team to lead water and fluid initiatives, a vertical Mullen said it considers “investable” with strong fundamentals.

Mullen contrasted 2025 with 2026 by noting that the company did not do acquisitions in the S&I segment last year, when the segment faced particularly difficult conditions, but had already completed two S&I acquisitions in 2026. He said acquisitions “backfill revenue” and position the company for stronger results when the market turns and capital activity accelerates.

Next update planned for April

In closing remarks, Mullen said management is “100% focused” on executing in 2026 and plans to provide an update in April on first-quarter performance and expectations for the rest of the year.

About Mullen Group TSE: MTL

Mullen Group is a public company with a long history of acquiring companies in the transportation and logistics industries. Today, we have one of the largest portfolios of logistics companies in North America, providing a wide range of transportation, warehousing and distribution services through a network of independently operated businesses. Service offerings include less-than-truckload, customs brokerage, truckload, warehousing, logistics, transload, oversized, third-party logistics and specialized hauling transportation.

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