News Briefs - Oct. 31
The Latest Headlines:
- Consumer Sentiment Index Rises in October
- Overnite IPO Priced at $19 Per Share
- Personal Spending Declines in September
- USF Reports Higher 3Q Profts
- Intermodal Rail Loadings Fall
- Yellow Corp. Calls Meeting of Shareholders
- Overnite IPO Priced at $19 Per Share
Consumer Sentiment Index Rises in October
The University of Michigan said Friday its final consumer sentiment index for October rose to 89.6 from 87.7 in September. The October index was also higher than the preliminary reading of 89.4 two weeks ago.Optimism has increased with gains in stock prices and employment, Bloomberg reported.
The current conditions index, which reflects Americans' perception of their financial situation and whether it's a good time to make major purchases, increased to 99.2 this month from 98.4 in September. It was down from the preliminary October reading of 102.2.
Overnite IPO Priced at $19 Per Share
Union Pacific Corp. said Friday the initial public offering of 25 million shares of its less-than-truckload unit Overnite Corp. was priced at $19 per share.UP said it could raise as much as $522.5 million from the sale, a 12% increase from earlier estimates, Bloomberg reported.
The shares of common stock began trading on Friday and rose above $22 per share by late afternoon, Bloomberg reported.
Overnite is ranked No. 18 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Personal Spending Declines in September
The Commerce Department said Friday that personal spending dipped 0.3% in September, the first decline since February.An increase in personal spending would also increase the demand for trucking services to restock shelves in the months ahead.
Adjusted for inflation, spending was off 0.6%. Spending had increased 1.1% in August and 1% in July. The decline reflected a winding down of refund checks sent to taxpayers, Commerce said in its report.
The department also said personal income rose 0.3% in September, the same as in the prior two months. Transport Topics
USF Reports Higher 3Q Profts
Transportation firm USF Corp. said late Thursday its net income for its fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 4 was $13 million or 47 cents per share, compared with $5.3 million or 19 cents a year earlier.The 2002 results included an $8.1 million charge related to discontinued operations.
Overall revenue for the quarter was $584.7 million, a 1.1% increase from the third quarter of 2002, the Chicago-based company said in a statement.
USF also said income from operations for its less-than-truckload group was $30.3 million, down from $30.6 million a year earlier.
Its truckload unit, USF Glen Moore, recorded a 13.6% revenue increase to $33.7 million as its income from operations rose to $1.8 million from $1.6 million.
USF is ranked No. 10 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Intermodal Rail Loadings Fall
The number of intermodal rail loadings rose 5.6% in the week ended Oct. 25 compared with the corresponding week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.Intermodal rail service is the segment of the industry that competes most directly with long-haul trucking.
Volume totaled 209,867 trailers or containers, the third-busiest week ever. Volume set the all-time record the prior week, AAR said.
So far this year, intermodal traffic is up 6.6% to 8.2 million. Transport Topics
Yellow Corp. Calls Meeting of Shareholders
Yellow Corp. announced a special meeting of its shareholders on Dec. 2 to vote on issuing additional company shares to Roadway stockholders, a move that could help close Yellow’s friendly purchase of rival Roadway in early December, Yellow said Oct. 17.Additionally, Yellow said its stockholders will be asked to consider and vote to change the name of Yellow Corp. to “Yellow Roadway Corp.,” effective with the closing of the acquisition.
Roadway will also have a special meeting of stockholders on December 9, 2003, to consider the approval of the transaction with Yellow.
Yellow said that with stockholder approvals, receipt of all regulatory clearances and the successful completion of financing, its transaction could close as early as Dec. 11, 2003. Transport Topics
This story appeared in the Oct. 27 print edition of Transport Topics.
