Echo Global Logistics Reports Stronger Second-Quarter Earnings
Net income at the company was $1.9 million, a 383% jump from last year when it posted a $681,628 net loss during the second quarter.
Earnings per share came in at 7 cents, but when the company excludes amortization and stock compensation, the figure jumps to 27 cents.
Revenue grew 19% to $443.8 million from $371.6 million year-over-year. Net revenue, the amount left after purchased transportation, jumped 22.5% to $85.2 million. Sequentially, net revenue grew from $80.8 million in the first quarter.
"We are very pleased with this growth and believe it highlights the value we bring to both shippers and carriers in any environment," said Doug Waggoner, chairman and CEO of Echo.
Echo ranks No. 35 on the Transport Topics Top 50 list of the largest logistics companies in North America based on revenue.
Echo reports that truckload volume increased 60% year-over-year, which the company attributes to the acquisition of Command Transportation last summer. Despite the higher volume, truckload revenue per load dropped 15%. Truckload operations accounts for 68% of total revenue at Echo.
“We experienced a fairly significant market tightening after Memorial Day, which continued through mid-July. This drove our purchased truckload rates higher,” said David Menzel, chief operating officer. “Rates have begun to soften over the last two weeks, but have not returned to the lows we experienced earlier in the quarter.”
Less-than-truckload volume grew 6% year-over-year, but revenue year-over-year remained flat. The LTL sector accounts for 27% of total company revenue, a drop of 540 basis points due to the Command Transportation acquisition, which specializes in truckload operations. Prices in the LTL sector have remained stable, according to Waggoner.
Revenue from intermodal, which is the smallest division, was up 6% to $19 million year-over-year, but dropped 55 basis points to 4.4% of total revenue.
“Market conditions on the intermodal side have not changed materially since the last quarter. At the same time, when the over-the-road rates rise, we anticipate being able to leverage this capability to add value to our shippers,” said Menzel.
Transactional revenue tied to the spot market had the strongest results with a 23% jump year-over-year to $362 million, but fell 4% when the Command Transportation acquisition is excluded.
Revenue in the managed transportation segment, primarily dedicated contract carriage, also increased, but by just 7.2% to $81.8 million.
Net revenue margin improved to 19.2% from 18.7% year-over-year, although sequentially it dropped from 19.9% in the first quarter.
Echo reported earnings at 4 cents less per share than analyst estimates, as compiled by Bloomberg.
