ArcBest Net More Than Triples

ArcBest Corp. more than tripled second-quarter net income to $17.2 million, or 63 cents per share, driven by stronger less-than-truckload and logistics results.

Profit at the LTL unit before interest and taxes quadrupled to $22.8 million from $5.5 million, as shipments rose 6% and rates reflected in revenue per 100 pounds of freight increased 4.2%.

Logistics income on the same basis was $6.5 million, an improvement of 73% that was generated by the Panther Premium Logistics unit.

Revenue climbed 14% to $658.6 million from $576.9 million, mostly because of logistics revenue that rose nearly 30% to $178.1 million. LTL revenue at ABF Freight climbed more than 10% to $492.9 million from $446.8 million.

Net income was $4.9 million, or 18 cents per share, in the year-earlier period, and revenue was $576.9 million.

“Our second-quarter results improved significantly from both the first quarter of 2014 and the year-ago quarter, which was welcome news as we emerged from the harsh winter weather earlier this year,” ArcBest CEO Judy McReynolds said in a statement. “As the economy picked up in the second quarter, ABF Freight experienced better pricing conditions and also saw the positive impact from the new labor agreement, while Panther reported one of the strongest quarters in its history.”

ArcBest, based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, is No. 13 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.