News Briefs - April 22
The Latest Headlines:
- UPS' Net Income Rises 24%
- Caterpillar Earnings Rise on Record Sales, Revenues
- Cummins' Profits Rise on Higher Truck Engine Sales
- Swift's Profits Dip in 1Q
- Old Dominion Earns $5.7 Million in 1Q
- SCS’ Net Income Doubles
- Knight Earns $9.3 Million in 1Q
- Vitran Earnings, Revenues Rise
- Dana’s Net Income Rises; Names New Chairman
- Wabash’s Profits Rise; Sees ‘Positive’ Economic Signs
- Tire Retreader Bandag Reports Higher Profits
- Marten Reports Higher Profits, Revenues
- Income at Mullen's Trucking Unit Slips in 1Q
- Labor Says Jobless Claims Fall, Wholesale Prices Rise
- Caterpillar Earnings Rise on Record Sales, Revenues
UPS' Net Income Rises 24%
UPS Inc. on Thursday reported a 24% jump in first-quarter profits on an 11% increase in revenues.Net income totaled $759 million or 67 cents per share, compared with $611 million or 54 cents a year earlier. Consolidated revenues totaled $8.92 billion, up from $8.02 billion in the first quarter of 2003, the company said.
UPS also U.S. package revenue rose 8.6% to $6.54 billion. Average ground volume rose 5.2%.
UPS is ranked No. 1 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Caterpillar Earnings Rise on Record Sales, Revenues
Caterpillar Inc. on Thursday said its net income for the first quarter rose to $412 million or $1.16 per share on record sales and revenues of $6.47 billion, an increase of 34%.A year earlier it reported profits of $129 million or 37 cents.
"It appears the world economy will have one of the strongest, broadest recoveries in years," Caterpillar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens said. "Economic stimulus in the United States is producing strong growth, and the Asian economies are improving on last year's outstanding performance."
Caterpillar said it was expecting sales and revenues to increase about 20% this year and profit per share to be up 65% to 70% compared with 2003. Transport Topics
Cummins' Profits Rise on Higher Truck Engine Sales
Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. said Thursday its net income for the first quarter was $33 million or 76 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $31 million or 79 cents a year earlier.Sales for the first quarter totaled $1.77 billion, a 28% increase from the first quarter of last year, the company said in a statement.
Cummins said engine sales volumes in the North American heavy-duty truck market improved "faster than expected as part of a broad market recovery," and the company expected the market to grow by more than 30% in 2004.
Looking ahead, the company said it expected second-quarter profits to be in the range of $1.20 to $1.30. Transport Topics
Swift's Profits Dip in 1Q
Truckload carrier Swift Transportation Co. said its net income for the first quarter was $6.4 million or 8 cents per share, compared with $8.9 million or 10 cents a year earlier.The company said in a statement the 2004 results included several special charges including a charge from the cost of its voluntary early retirement program. Excluding special charges, net income would have been $8 million.
Revenues for the quarter increased 12.9% to $622.4 million, the company said. Swift also said it purchased nearly 4 million shares of its common stock at a cost of $74 million during the quarter.
Swift is ranked No. 13 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Old Dominion Earns $5.7 Million in 1Q
Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. said Thursday its first-quarter net income was $5.7 million or 36 cents per share, compared with $4.2 million or 26 cents a year earlier.Revenue from operations increased 19.6% to $183 million, the company said in a statement.
Old Dominion also said its board approved a three-for-two stock split, in the form of a 50% stock dividend. The new shares will be distributed on May 20, to shareholders of record as of May 6.
Old Dominion is ranked No. 30 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
SCS’ Net Income Doubles
Transportation firm SCS Transportation Inc. said Friday its first-quarter net income was $2.6 million or 17 cents per share, compared with $1.3 million or 9 cents a year earlier.First-quarter revenues were $225.3 million, up 12.6% from last year, the company said in a statement.
SCS said its regional less-than-truckload carrier, Saia Motor Freight Line, recorded an operating income of $6.1 million, a 41.7% increase, while regional LTL and truckload carrier Jevic Transportation saw its operating income rise 70.3% to $1.9 million.
SCS is ranked No. 25 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Knight Earns $9.3 Million in 1Q
Truckload carrier Knight Transportation Inc. said Wednesday its first-quarter profits rose to $9.3 million or 24 cents per share, compared with $7.1 million or 19 cents a year earlier. Revenue before fuel surcharges increased 22.7% to $90.2 million, the company said in a statement.“The revenue side of our business continued its improvement, as we improved our loaded revenue per mile in excess of 4%, without sacrificing length of haul,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Knight.
“We are especially pleased with the performance of the quarter considering the adoption of the new hours of service rules that were effective this quarter.”
Knight is ranked No. 59 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Vitran Earnings, Revenues Rise
Toronto-based transportation firm Vitran Corp. said Wednesday its net income for the first quarter was $1.6 million or 13 cents per share on revenues of $87.1 million, compared with $1.4 million or 14 cents on revenues of $77.5 million a year earlier.The company said its less-than-truckload segment’s income from operations was $1.9 million, compared with $2.6 million a year earlier. Vitran said the Canadian National Railway strike negatively impacted income from operations by about $1 million.
Meanwhile, Vitran's truckload segment’s income from operations rose to $447,000 from $76,000.
Vitran is ranked No. 57 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Dana’s Net Income Rises; Names New Chairman
Vehicle parts maker Dana Corp. said that its first-quarter net income increased and that it had given Michael Burns, its chief executive and president, the added title of chairman.The company said it earned $63 million or 42 cents a share on sales of $2.3 billion, compared with $41 million or 28 cents on sales of $2 billion a year earlier.
Dana said much of the sales increase was driven by new business programs and higher production volumes in its principal markets, particularly the North American heavy-duty truck sector.
Meanwhile, Burns succeeded Glen Hiner, who had served in the position since the death former Dana Chairman and CEO Joe Magliochetti in September. Transport Topics
Wabash’s Profits Rise; Sees ‘Positive’ Economic Signs
Truck trailer maker Wabash National Corp. on Wednesday said its net income for the first quarter surged to $6.9 million or 23 cents per share, compared with $1.4 million or 5 cents a year earlier."We are very pleased with the improvement in our results. We continue to see positive signs in general economic activity, trucking activity and U.S. trailer industry fundamentals,” Chief Executive Officer William Greubel said in a statement.
Wabash said net sales dipped to $222 million from $223 million. Transport Topics
Tire Retreader Bandag Reports Higher Profits
Tire retreader Bandag Inc. said its net income for the first quarter was $4 million or $20 cents per, compared with $2.4 million or 12 cents a year earlier.Total net sales for the quarter were $173.5 million, a decline of 1%, the company said in a statement.
The company said that trucking activity was trending stronger so far in 2004.
In addition it said Speedco, a provider of on-highway truck lubrication services, saw its sales total $6.7 million between Feb. 13, when Bandag's acquired an 87.5% ownership, and the end of the quarter. Transport Topics
Marten Reports Higher Profits, Revenues
Refrigerated truckload carrier Marten Transport Ltd. said its net income for the first quarter was $2.7 million for 19 cents per share, compared with $1.4 million or 14 cents per share a year earlier.Operating revenue increased 6.6% to $84.5 million, the company said in a statement.
"Strong freight demand, improved freight selection and disciplined operations helped us overcome the challenges of a tight driver market, high fuel prices and an increase in insurance and claims," Chairman and President Randolph Marten said.
Marten Transport is ranked No. 58 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Income at Mullen's Trucking Unit Slips in 1Q
Mullen Transportation Inc. said its net income for the first quarter was $16.8 million or $1.13 per share, compared with $9.2 million or 62 cents a year earlier.Mullen said its trucking segment reported revenues of $28.5 million, down from $32.3 million a year earlier. Operating income decreased 4% to $4.3 million, the company said.
"Some challenges continue to persist in our trucking segment with respect to pricing and the overall demand for trucking services," said Chairman and President Murray Mullen. "There are, however, positive signs that the Canadian economy may see a return to higher growth rates. When this materializes I am confident that our trucking segment will rebound as well."
Mullen is ranked No. 72 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Labor Says Jobless Claims Fall, Wholesale Prices Rise
The Labor Department said Thursday new applications filed for unemployment insurance dropped by a seasonally adjusted 9,000 to 353,000 for the week ending April 17.In a second report from the department, wholesale prices rose by 0.5% in March, up from February's 0.1% increase. Much of last month's increase reflected higher costs for food products, which jumped by 1.5%, and for energy, including gasoline, which went up by 0.6%.
The wholesale price report was originally scheduled to be released on April 8, but it was delayed because of difficulties converting current categories to a new classification system.
Meanwhile, jobless claims hit a high last year of 444,000 in the middle of April. This year, new filings for jobless benefits each week have managed to stay under 400,000, a sign that the jobs market is getting better, economists told Reuters. Transport Topics
