Celadon Group Net Income Plummets, Hurt by Weaker Equipment Sale Gains
Celadon Group Inc. fiscal fourth-quarter earnings plummeted 87% to $1.62 million, or 6 cents per share, hurt by a precipitous drop in gains on equipment dispositions, claims costs, higher expenses and the weak freight market that put a lid on efforts to raise rates.
The carrier that ranks No. 32 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, raised revenue 4.3% to $264.3 million. However, expenses rose nearly 15%, excluding the reduced gains on asset sales. The gains on asset sales totaled $1.6 million, compared with $9.5 million in the year-earlier period, resulting in a drop of about 17 cents in earnings per share. In the 2015 quarter ended June 30, net income was $12 million, or 47 cents.
The results at Indianapolis-based Celadon trailed nearly all other publicly traded truckload fleets. The only weaker performance was at No. 53 USA Truck, which swung from a 2015 quarter profit to a loss in this year’s comparable quarter.
Claims related costs were $3.5 million, or about 8 cents per share.
Trucking revenue per loaded mile dipped about 1%, and revenue per tractor per week declined as miles run fell about 2%.
One brighter spot was intermodal revenue, which more than doubled to $15.7 million from $6.1 million.
