Covenant Reports Fourth-Quarter Profit

Covenant Transportation Group earned $176,000, or 1 cent per share in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $894,000, or 6 cents, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 3.6% to $192.9 million, the truckload carrier said late Thursday.

Freight revenue, excluding fuel surcharges, rose 0.1% to $159.5 million, Covenant said.

For the full year, Covenant lost $16.7 million, or $1.19 per share, compared with a loss of $1.4 million, or 10 cents, in 2006.

Full-year revenue rose 4.2% to $712.5 million, while freight revenue rose 5.3% to %602.6 million.

The carrier said in December it expected to take a modest loss or break even in the fourth quarter.

Covenant is ranked No. 38 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.