News Briefs - March 25
The Latest Headlines:
- Mixed Reports Cloud Wartime Retail Picture
- Union Pacific Downgrades Outlook on Fuel, Economy Concerns
- Existing Home Sales Dip in February
- Crude Oil Continuing to Rise on War Concerns, Nigerian Strike
- Canadian Pacific Unveils VIN Numbers in Auto Shipping
- Union Pacific Downgrades Outlook on Fuel, Economy Concerns
Mixed Reports Cloud Wartime Retail Picture
An industry survey said that the outbreak of hostilities last week drove U.S. retail sales down by almost 10% during the first four days of war, Reuters reported Tuesday, even as a leading media poll indicated business as usual during the same period.The survey by ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based firm that tracks retail traffic and sales, said that sales fell 9.9% over the first four days of “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” from the same four days last year, Reuters reported. The sharpest decline in sales was felt on March 20, the first full day of the war. On that day, sales fell 13.9% compared to year-earlier figures, ShopperTrak said.
A poll by USA Today, CNN and Gallup said that 91% of Americans said that they had no plans to change their purchasing plans. Some retailers, like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., reported improving sales over the first weekend of the war, Reuters said.
Union Pacific Downgrades Outlook on Fuel, Economy Concerns
Union Pacific Corp., the parent company of Overnite Transportation Co. and a leading North American railroad, announced it was lowering its profit outlook because of the impact of rising fuel costs, slackening demand and several disruptive winter storms.The company said that it now expects first-quarter earnings to be in a range of 58 cents to 60 cents per share – lower than its original projection of 69 cent a share, and well off of the 86 cents a share it earned in the same quarter in 2002.
"Average diesel fuel prices for the quarter are almost $0.40 per gallon more than we paid a year ago. Operating costs for the entire transportation industry have been inflated by fuel prices that reached all-time highs during the quarter," said Dick Davidson, chairman and chief executive officer. "In addition, while first quarter revenues started out fairly strong, as war tensions increased and crude oil prices rose, we saw a weakening in some customer shipments. As a result, we have not experienced the growth we'd expected, particularly in March, which is typically the strongest month of the quarter."
The company said that rising diesel prices will add about $130 million to its operating expenses, at a cost of nearly 30 cents per share in 2003 relative to 2002.
Overnite is ranked No. 20 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest trucking companies in the United States and Canada. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Existing Home Sales Dip in February
The number of previously owned homes sold in the United States fell in February to an annual rate of 5.84 million units, down 4.3% from the record 6.09-million-unit pace it set in January, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.The pace, though down from January, was the fourth fastest since the group began recording existing home sales data. The only higher paces were a 5.96-million-unit clip in January 2002, a 5.91-million-unit pace in December and January’s 6.09-million-unit rate.
Existing home sales can help trucking companies because new homebuyers often purchase new furniture or appliances, in addition to moving their possessions into their home. Transport Topics
Crude Oil Continuing to Rise on War Concerns, Nigerian Strike
The price of crude oil rose in early trading Tuesday as the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq continued to face stiff resistance and oil shipments slowed from Nigeria after a week-long strike, Bloomberg reported.Oil prices fell dramatically last week, but have risen back toward $30 a barrel in the early part of this week, Bloomberg said. In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of crude oil for May delivery rose 60 cents a barrel to $29.26.
U.S. and British forces had pushed to within striking distance of Baghdad in their effort to outs Saddam Hussein, but have been stalled by a severe sandstorm and resistance from Iraq elite Republican Guard, Bloomberg reported.
In Nigeria, a major oil producer and a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a strike and civil unrest have forces foreign oil companies to say they could no longer oil shipments from port terminals in the country, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics
Canadian Pacific Unveils VIN Numbers in Auto Shipping
Canadian Pacific Railway said Monday that it is nearing the completion of a $4.5 million project to manage shipments of cars and light trucks by utilizing their vehicle identification, or VIN, numbers.The company expects the project to completed by mid-year. When finished, customers would be able to track the progress of their vehicle on their way from factories to the showroom.
The software program, called AutoTrack, will allow manufacturers and dealers to see “real-time data on what is happening not only to the rail cars carrying their shipments but also each individual vehicle whenever and wherever it is in our care."
Canadian Pacific hauls freight over 14,000 miles of track in Canada from Montreal, Quebec to Vancouver, British Columbia and in the United States in the Northeast and Midwest. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
