News Briefs - July 18
The Latest Headlines:
- Price of Crude Oil at One-Month High
- Arkansas Best Earns $15.2 Million in 2Q
- Yellow Reports Improved Revenues, Profits
- J.B. Hunt Declares Stock Split
- U.S. Tax on Canadian Lumber Upheld by Nafta
- SCS 2Q Profits Improve More Than 20%
- More CEOs Optimistic on U.S. Economy
- Visteon Reports Loss as it Exits Seating Business
- Panel: Postal Service Should Receive More Flexibility
- Bandag's Profits Fall; Calls Truck Tire Market 'Soft'
- Arkansas Best Earns $15.2 Million in 2Q
Price of Crude Oil at One-Month High
The price of crude oil pn Friday rose to its highest point in a month on speculation that U.S. inventories would continue to lag year-earlier levels as the OPEC oil cartel maintains its production limits, Bloomberg reported.Crude oil for August delivery rose 55 cents, or 1.8%, to $31.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price since June 11. Prices rose 2.2% this week and are up 16% from a year ago.
OPEC is expected to keep existing output quotas when it meets on July 31, allowing members to reap the benefits of high prices, Bloomberg said.
Arkansas Best Earns $15.2 Million in 2Q
Arkansas Best Corp. said Friday that its net income for the second quarter was $15.2 million or 60 cents per share, compared with $6.5 million or 26 cents in the year-earlier period.The Fort Smith, Ark.-based company said in a release that net income included a $12.1 million pre-tax gain on the sale of its interest in Wingfoot Commercial Tire Systems LLC and a $1.2 million charge related to the company's interest rate swap.
Total revenue during the quarter was $377.9 million.
Less-than-truckload unit ABF Freight System Inc. had revenues of $337.2 million, a per-day increase of 9.4% from last year.
"Despite the lack of meaningful changes in the soft economy, we continue to be encouraged by the pricing environment," said Robert Young III, Arkansas Best’s chief executive officer.
Arkansas Best is ranked No. 17 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies Transport Topics
Yellow Reports Improved Revenues, Profits
Transportation holding company Yellow Corp. late Thursday reported a second-quarter net income of $18.3 million or 62 cents per share, compared with $6.2 million or 22 cents a year ago.Revenues totaled $713 million, up 10% from the $646 million in 2002. Chairman Bill Zollars attributed the growth in revenues to increased volumes and effective yield management.
The Overland Park, Kan.-based company said it was comfortable with its full-year guidance of $2.25 to $2.35 per share, and expected the third quarter to be between 70 cents and 80 cents per share.
Yellow, which earlier this month said it would purchase Roadway Corp., is ranked No. 6 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
J.B. Hunt Declares Stock Split
Transportation firm J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. said Thursday that its board of directors declared a two-for-one stock split on its common stock, payable Aug. 29 to stockholders of record on July 31.Earlier this week the Lowell, Ark.-based company reported a net income for the second quarter of $25.1 million or 62 cents per share.
J.B. Hunt is ranked No. 14 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
U.S. Tax on Canadian Lumber Upheld by Nafta
U.S. tariffs on $7 billion in annual lumber imports from Canada were upheld by a North American Free Trade Agreement panel, Bloomberg reported late Thursday.If the tariffs cause prices for homes and durable goods made from wood rise too high, it would hurt the trucking companies that ship lumber to factories or finished goods to stores.
The panel also said the Commerce Department must recalculate the tariffs, which would probably result in lower duties on the homebuilding lumber.
The U.S. imposed the tax in May 2002 after ruling the Canadians were selling timber at unfairly low prices, Bloomberg said.
The tariffs have not worked, prompting a surge in timber imports to the United States from Latin America and Eastern Europe, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
SCS 2Q Profits Improve More Than 20%
SCS Transportation Inc. said late Thursday that its net income for the second quarter increased more than 20% to $3.9 million or 26 cents per share, compared with $3.1 million or 21 cents a year ago.Revenues increased 6% to $208.3 million, the company said in a release.
SCS also said that revenues, yields and less-than-truckload tonnage increased for both operating companies, Saia and Jevic.
Looking ahead, the company said it expected third-quarter earnings to be in the range of 32 cents to 36 cents per share. Transport Topics
More CEOs Optimistic on U.S. Economy
The Business Roundtable, a lobbying group of chief executives, released a survey describing a "modest but measurable" improvement in the outlook for revenue, employment and capital spending among large public companies, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.Trucking is sensitive to the economy and would benefit from an upturn.
Of the 117 chief executives who responded to the July survey, 16% expected to create additional jobs in the next six months, compared with 9% when the survey was conducted in April, the article said.
Although 42% of executives still planned to cut payrolls, that number declined from 45% in April and from 60% in a similar survey conducted in November. Transport Topics
Visteon Reports Loss as it Exits Seating Business
Vehicle parts maker Visteon Corp. said Friday it had a net loss of $167 million or $1.33 per share in the second quarter, compared with a net income of $72 million or 56 cents a year ago.Included in the results are a charge of $170 million related primarily to costs associated with the exit of its seating business.
Sales for the quarter totaled $4.6 billion, down from $5 billion a year ago, which reflects a 14% reduction in Ford's North American volumes, Visteon said in a release. Transport Topics
Panel: Postal Service Should Receive More Flexibility
The U.S. Postal Service should remain part of the government, but receive more flexibility to change rates and be operated by a corporate-style board of directors, the President's Commission on the U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday.President Bush formed the commission to study the agency and make recommendations for its future, the Associated Press reported. A final report is expected by the end of the month.
The commissioners recommended that an independent postal regulatory board supervise rates and set a maximum rate for mail where the post office has a monopoly, such as first-class mail, but allow postal management the freedom to set prices below that maximum.
In addition, they said the post office should limit its activities to collecting, sorting and delivering mail and close some of its offices.
Any actual changes in the law covering the service would have to be made by Congress, with the president's approval, AP said. Transport Topics
Bandag's Profits Fall; Calls Truck Tire Market 'Soft'
Tire retreader Bandag Inc. said Friday its second-quarter net income was $8.7 million or 45 cents per share, compared with a net income of $11.7 million or 57 cents per share a year ago.The company said in North America, the truck tire replacement market remained soft due to generally flat trucking freight volumes. Bandag also said in a release that it anticipates little economic improvement for the remainder of 2003.
Net sales for the second quarter were $204.1 million, down from $231.1 million in the year-earlier period. Transport Topics
