January 25, 2006 8:20 AM, EST

CNF Reports Record Fourth-Quarter Earnings

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ransportation firm CNF Inc. reported record fourth-quarter 2005 net income late Tuesday, as its profit rose to $51.2 million or 92 cents a share, compared with $32.2 million or 58 cents a year earlier.

The earnings were just below the 93 cents to $1.01 range CNF had projected when it released its third-quarter earnings in October. (Click here for previous coverage.)

CNF said its first-quarter earnings would be between 71 and 77 cents per share.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 12.6% to $1.1 billion from the previous fourth quarter, CNF said in a statement.

For the year, CNF earned $215.3 million or $3.85 a share, compared with a 2004 loss of $124.1 million or $2.15. Revenue for 2005 rose 12.3% to $4.17 billion.

Operating income at CNF’s Con-Way Transportation Services unit, which operates a number of less-than-truckload carriers, rose 22.1% to $77.8 million from a year earlier. Con-Way’s fourth-quarter revenue rose 11.5% to $721 million.

CNF’s Menlo Worldwide logistics unit, which includes Menlo Logistics and Vector SCM, saw its operating income increase 9.9% to $15.2 million, the company said. Menlo’s fourth-quarter revenue rose 14.8% to $365.9 million.

The company’s other operations, including the results of Road Systems trailer manufacturing and corporate activities, reported an operating loss of $270,000 in the quarter, compared with a $1.6 million loss in the previous fourth quarter.

NF is ranked No. 6 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies.