Expeditors’ First-Quarter Profit Declines

Logistics firm Expeditors International of Washington said its first-quarter profit declined from a year ago as air freight volumes fell.

Net income decreased to $76.7 million, or 36 cents a share, from $91.2 million, or 42 cents, a year ago.

Revenue slipped 3% from a year ago to $1.41 billion, the company said in a statement late Wednesday.

Year-over-year air freight volume declined 9%, while ocean freight volume gained 1%.

“Our largest customers are being very cautious about the amount of airfreight they are using this year,” CEO Peter Rose said in a statement.

The quarter included a $5.5 million fine levied by the European Commission in March in connection with air freight price-fixing charges, which Expeditors denied.

“As we said then, we did not enter into any agreement that affected customer pricing in any way,” Rose said.

Seattle-based Expeditors International of Washington is ranked No. 12 on the Transport Topics Logistics 50 listing of North American logistics companies.