News Briefs - Feb. 12
- Wabash National Restructures Credit Line
- NBER Economists Say Recession Still On
- S&P May Lower Navistar Rating
- EGL Improves 4Q Results
- United Mechanics Likely to Vote Down Offer
- FEC Credits Marketing for Railroad Results
- Transport Corp. Chief Disappointed in Results
- Werner Approves 4-for-3 Stock Split
- Consumers Can't End Recession, Boston Fed President Says
- EGL Improves 4Q Results
- NBER Economists Say Recession Still On
Wabash National Restructures Credit Line
Trailer maker Wabash National Corp. said late Monday that it expects to fall out of compliance with portions of its credit facility agreements and is hoping to rework the deals.The Lafayette, Ind.-based company said it was anticipating being out of compliance with the minimum net worth clause of its agreements, Reuters said, and is attempting to restructure its credit facility.
Wabash expects to discuss the details of new credit arrangements in a conference call at which it will also discuss its year-end financial results. The results will be released on March 5, after financial markets close, the press release said. Transport Topics
(Click here for the press release.)
NBER Economists Say Recession Still On
Despite a rising tide of positive economic news, a panel of economists said Tuesday that they will wait months before pronouncing the recession over, Reuters reported.The end of the recession can mean an increase in demand for trucking services.
Reuters said six highly regarded economists on the National Bureau of Economic Research’s business cycle dating committee have said that most key data remain at levels indicative of recession.
In a memo on the NBER Web site, the committee said it waits until activity has surpassed its previous peak before determining a trough date.
Of the four indicators the NBER watches – employment, industrial production, wholesale-retail trade and income – only income, the panel said, has not performed in a way typical of a recession in the past eight months. Transport Topics
S&P May Lower Navistar Rating
Navistar International Corp. may see its credit rating downgraded to junk status because of weak demand for the vehicles made at its International Truck & Engine subsidiary, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.Standard & Poor’s said it had placed the company’s credit rating, including that of its financial arm, on CreditWatch for possible downgrade. Moody’s Investor Service, the other major rating agency, had lowered Navistar to junk status in May.
Such a downgrade could increase the cost of borrowing for the Warrenville, Ill. truck maker, which has said it anticipates a $50 million loss in the fiscal first quarter despite reducing production by 19%. Transport Topics
EGL Improves 4Q Results
EGL Eagle Global Logistics announced Tuesday that it had fourth-quarter earnings of $821,000, or 2 cents per share, in 2001, compared with a loss of $42.5 million, or 91 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2000,The company said its fourth-quarter results were bolstered by the positive impact of $954,000 from unusual items relating to the sale of its former headquarters facility.
The company, which provides global freight, supply chain and information services, reported a net loss of $40.2 million, or 84 cents per share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2001, compared with a loss of $722,000, or 2 cents a share in 2000. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
United Mechanics Likely to Vote Down Offer
Mechanics for United Airlines are likely to vote down a contract recommended by a presidential panel, choosing to strike instead, news services reported.A strike could ground flights and strand aircraft, holding up shipments of air cargo and disrupting the schedules of trucks, which make deliveries to and from airports.
The contract offer includes a 37% pay increase, but includes no job security provisions, inadequate retirement benefits and delays in retroactive pay, the mechanics' union president told Reuters.
Members of the United Association of Machinists are voting on two questions at more than 30 union halls across the country Tuesday. The membership can either vote for the contract or the strike, Reuters said.
The results of the vote are expected late Tuesday or early Wednesday. If the majority rejects the contract, then two-thirds of the members are needed to authorize a strike. Such a labor stoppage could start as early as Feb. 20, Reuters said.
President Bush, who has already intervened into the dispute, could ask for congressional intervention and impose a settlement, Reuters reported. Transport Topics
FEC Credits Marketing for Railroad Results
Florida East Coast Industries Inc. credited strong intermodal marketing for a year that saw the company's railroad deliver the second highest operating profit in its history, despite adverse conditions in the general economy.FEC reported an overall net loss of $61.4 million, or $1.69 per share, in 2001, compared to net income of $25.8 million, or 70 cents a share, in 2000.
The railroad company reported operating profit of $41.2 million vs. $43,663 in 2000.
However, the trucking company, registered an operating loss of $6.2 million compared with a loss of $8.1 million in 2000. Transport Topics
(">Click here for the press release.)
Transport Corp. Chief Disappointed in Results
Transport America's president said Tuesday he is disappointed by a fourth quarter that saw the truckload and logistics company drop from net income of $849,000, or 8 cents a share, in 2000 to $40,000, or 1 cent a share, in 2001.The company's fourth-quarter revenue dropped from $71.4 million in 2000 to $68.8 million in 2001. If the company included charges for management changes in November and the sale of its former headquarters, Transport Corp. said it would have had a fourth-quarter net loss of $454,000, or 6 cents per share.
"While the Company has weathered the economic environment better than many smaller and mid-size carriers in the industry," said Michael Paxton, president and chief executive officer, "it has lagged behind the industry leaders in revenue growth and financial performance. We expect to change this trend going forward."
For the fiscal year 2001 that ended Dec. 31, 2001, Transport Corp. said it had revenues of $274.6 million, down from the $290.6 million the company brought in during the previous year. Net income for 2001 was $142,000, or 2 cents per share, excluding unusual charges. This is down sharply from the $4.7 million, or 46 cents per share, the company earned in 2000.
Transport Corp. also announced Tuesday that its former president and chief executive, Robert Meyers, has resigned his position on the company's board of directors.
Transport Corp. ranks No. 50 in the 2000-2001 Transport Topics list of the 100 largest trucking companies. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Werner Approves 4-for-3 Stock Split
Werner Enterprises Inc. said late Monday that its board of directors has declared a four-for-three stock split in the form of a 33.3% dividend.The dividend will be paid on March 14 to shareholders of record on Feb. 25. The split will push the number of common shares from 49 million to 65 million, with no fractional shares being issued.
Omaha, Neb.-based truckload carrier, Werner Enterprises is ranked No. 18 on the 2000-2001 Transport Topics list of the 100 largest trucking companies. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Consumers Can't End Recession, Boston Fed President Says
The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston believes that consumers cannot lift the U.S. economy out of recession on their own, Reuters reported.Trucking is sensitive to the economy and an end to the recession could mean an increase in the demand for trucking services.
Cathy Minehan, speaking Monday at the Economic Development Summit, said uncertainty in financial markets of corporate American's accounting, along with slipping consumer demand for new cars.
inehan told the Summit, which was hosted by Rhode Island's House of Representatives and State Senate a pullback in U.S. stock markets in recent weeks -- in large part over accounting worries after the collapse of energy trader Enron Corp. -- means equities may not be feeding into consumer confidence and demand in the way they seemed to be even two or three weeks ago, Reuters said.
Nonetheless, she said, there are good reasons to expect the recovery is near. Transport Topics
EGL Improves 4Q Results
Editor's Note: The story below is a correction of a story that ran in the Feb. 12 News Briefs, which has now also been corrected.EGL Eagle Global Logistics announced Tuesday that it had fourth-quarter earnings of $821,000, or 2 cents per share, in 2001, compared with a loss of $42.5 million, or 91 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2000,
The company said its fourth-quarter results were bolstered by the positive impact of $954,000 from unusual items relating to the sale of its former headquarters facility.
The company, which provides global freight, supply chain and information services, claimed a net loss of $40.2 million, or 84 cents per share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2001, compared with a loss of $722,000, or 2 cents a share in 2000. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
