April 23 Earnings Roundup: Covenant, Landstar, Hub Group,TransForce, Mullen
Truckload operators Covenant Transportation Group Inc. and Landstar System Inc. reported improved first-quarter results, while third-party logistics provider Hub Group Inc.’s earnings declined.
Covenant, which ranks No. 43 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, posted earnings of $10.2 million, or 56 cents per share. No. 10 Landstar's earnings increased 8.6% to $30 million, or 67 cents per share. Earnings for Hub Group, No. 8 on the for-hire TT100, fell 15% to $10.3 million, or 28 cents.
Covenant reversed a loss of $1.37 million, or 9 cents in the 2014 period. Revenue increased 3.9% to $167.2 million, helped by a 12% increase in revenue per tractor per week.
CEO David Parker credited the improvement to more team-driven trucks, a tighter freight market, less harsh weather and a higher percentage of seated trucks.
Covenant’s freight revenue rose $17.7 million, exceeding the $10.7 million drop in fuel surcharge collections, which also fell at other fleets.
Truckloads at Landstar rose 6%, helping to boost revenue by 11% to $762.4 million. Revenue per truckload shipment rose 4%. Most of the truckload increase was for van shipments.
“Demand for Landstar’s services was strong throughout the quarter,” CEO Jim Gattoni said.
Revenue fell 2% at Hub to $835.9 million. Earnings in the 2014 period were $12 million, or 33 cents. Intermodal revenue, accounting for half of sales, fell 3%. Brokerage results improved.
TransForce Inc., the diversified North American trucking operator, said first-quarter earnings more than doubled to C$14 million ($11.3 million), or 13 Canadian cents, reflecting the effect of two acquisitions over the past year.
Revenue climbed 34% to C$1.03 billion from C$770.5 million. Profit in the 2014 period was C$5.9 million, or 6 cents.
The company, based in the Montreal area, ranks No. 9 in the for-hire TT100. In the past year, No. 49 Contrans Group, a Canadian fleet, was acquired and truckload operator Transport America, based in Minnesota, also was purchased.
The largest improvement was in truckload, where both profit before interest and taxes, or EBIT, and revenue more than doubled. EBIT in the unit was C$27.2 million, and revenue reached C$412.2 million, Less-than-truckload EBIT fell 32% to C$3 million as revenue rose 18% to C$213.8 million. Package and courier EBIT climbed 14% to C$14.7 million, outpacing the 2% rise in revenue to C$311.7 million.
Those sectors generated more than 90% of TransForce revenue. Acquisitions contributed more than 80% of the increase in EBIT, the report said.
Mullen Group Ltd., another Canada-based company, said net income fell 92% to C$2.8 million, weighed down by the weakness in the energy exploration and production market.
Revenue for the company dipped 18% to C$337.2 million, but trucking/logistics revenue rose 29% to C$180.1 million, and EBIT in that unit climbed 19% to C$25 million.
