XPO Logistics Reports 1Q Loss, Buys Brokerage Firm

XPO Logistics reported a first-quarter loss and announced its first acquisition, saying it will buy brokerage firm Continental Freight Services for $3.4 million.

Buchanan, Mich.-based XPO said it lost $3.4 million for the quarter, reversing a $1.1 million profit in the year-earlier period.

Revenue rose 7.4% to $44.6 million — an annual rate of about $178 million a year, XPO said. Blythewood, S.C.-based Continental’s annual revenue is about $22 million.

XPO’s Chief Executive Officer Bradley Jacobs has said he expects to nearly triple the company’s revenue this year to about $500 million.

He told Transport Topics that XPO intends to achieve a $500 million annual revenue pace, with about half from acquisitions and the rest through expansion of existing facilities and five new offices.

Last year, Jacobs, who founded and built United Rentals Inc., entered the brokerage business by purchasing Express-1 Expedited Solutions, since renamed XPO.

He said he planned to build a brokerage and expedited freight business with revenue topping $1 billion.