Yellow Roadway Posts Record Per-Share Earnings in 3Q

ess-than-truckload carrier Yellow Roadway Corp. reported late Thursday third-quarter net income of $85.3 million or a record $1.42 a share, compared with $55.9 million or $1.15 a year earlier.

The record earnings per share were in the $1.40 to $1.45 range the company had forecast in early September — down from its earlier $1.60 to $1.65 forecast — following impacts related to Hurricane Katrina. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Yellow Roadway said in a statement that its fourth-quarter EPS would be $1.30 to $1.35, that its 2005 full-year EPS would be $5.18 to $5.23 and that its 2005 revenue would be $8.7 billion.

"Synergies from the Roadway acquisition remain on track while synergy initiatives from the USF acquisition are well under way," Yellow Roadway Chief Executive Officer Bill Zollars said.

Yellow Corp. acquired Roadway Corp. in December 2003. (Click here for previous coverage.)

The company completed its $1.37 billion purchase of LTL carrier USF Corp. in May. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Yellow Roadway reported improved earnings at all of its business units, including Yellow Transportation, Roadway Express and Meridian IQ.

Yellow Transportation's quarterly revenue rose 7.7% to a record $892 million, while operating income rose to a record $73.5 million from $63.7 million a year earlier.

Roadway Express generated $858 million in revenue, a 5.7% increase, with operating income rising to $58.3 million from $52.1 million.

Meridian IQ, the company's logistics subsidiary, reported its revenue rose 149% to $142 million when including USF’s logistics unit. Revenue rose 37% excluding the USF revenue.

YRC Transportation — including the New Penn Motor Express, USF Bestway, USF Holland and USF Reddaway units — saw its revenue rise to $606.5 million from $70.7 million, and operating income rise to $27.8 million from $10.3 million.

Yellow Roadway is ranked No. 3 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S and Canadian for-hire carriers.