Pacer Takes $177 Million First-Quarter Loss
Transportation and third-party logistics firm Pacer International reported a first-quarter loss of $177.4 million, or $5.11 per share, compared with a profit of $13.4 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier.
The results included the impact of a goodwill impairment charge of $163.7 million after taxes, or $4.71 per share, the company said.
Revenue fell to $358.6 million, from $502.8 million for the quarter, Pacer said late Wednesday.
Pacer’s intermodal unit lost $183.6 million compared with operating income of $30.4 million last year, while its logistics operations lost $34.7 million, compared with a loss of $800,000 a year ago.
The company’s Stacktrain business unit changed its revenue recognition method in the first quarter to a completed service basis from the percent of completed service basis used in prior periods.
In light of the results, Pacer is undertaking cost-cutting measures including workforce reductions, salary cuts, suspending its 401(k) match for 2009, cutting capital spending and other measures, Michael Uremovich, Pacer’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Pacer International, which runs rail intermodal, less-than-truckload and warehousing operations, is ranked No. 14 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
