Saia Net Income Climbs 47%
Saia Inc. reported first-quarter net income increased 47% to $12.6 million, or 49 cents per share, with help from higher rates.
Georgia-based Saia, the first publicly traded less-than-truckload operator to report quarterly results, announced that revenue fell 2.2% to $293 million.
Rates per hundred pounds of freight climbed 4.6%, but tonnage slipped 6.6%. Shipments fell 2.8% from the first quarter of last year, when earnings were $8.6 million, or 34 cents.
“Difficult year-over-year shipment and tonnage comparisons were further challenged by winter weather, softness in the oil patch and our continued optimization of pricing programs,” said CEO Rick O’Dell, whose company ranks No. 25 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
He noted that the first quarter was “more sluggish than typical.”
