Schneider Reports 74% Earnings Increase for Q4
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Schneider National saw a 74% year-over-year increase in net income for the fourth quarter of 2021, the company reported Feb. 3.
The Green Bay, Wis.-based truckload, intermodal and logistics services provider said Q4 net income reached $134.1 million, or 75 cents a diluted share, for the three months ending Dec. 31. That compared with $76.9 million, or 43 cents, during Q4 2020. Total Q4 operating revenue increased 24% to $1.57 billion from $1.27 billion.
The results surpassed Wall Street analysts’ Q4 expectations of 66 cents per share on revenue of $1.53 billion, according to Zacks Consensus Estimate.
For the year, Schneider posted net income of $405.4 million, $2.28, compared with $211.7 million, $1.19, last year. Full-year revenue rose 23% to $5.61 billion compared with $4.55 billion in 2020.
Schneider credited the gains to strategic initiatives aimed at growing its business portfolio, with an emphasis on dedicated, intermodal and logistics. In particular, it said new business in dedicated and growth in the intermodal container fleet contributed to margin expansion for the quarter and year.
Rourke
CEO Mark Rourke also mentioned the recent acquisition of Midwest Logistics Systems. Schneider acquired 100% of the equity interest in the dedicated carrier Dec. 31. With the addition, Schneider now forecasts its dedicated operations will grow significantly.
“By combining our organic growth with our MLS acquisition, dedicated is nearly 2,000 driver associates larger than a year ago,” Rourke said. “The new business pipeline and dedicated remains robust.”
The company’s truckload segment reported Q4 revenue increased 11% to $523.6 million from $470.3 million the prior year. The company attributed the gain primarily due to effective revenue and network management, along with new dedicated business. The gains were partially offset by a lower truckload network fleet count and a decrease in miles per tractor amid industrywide capacity and supply chain constraints. Income from operations increased 35% to $87.7 million from $65.1 million.
The intermodal segment saw Q4 revenue increase 18% to $317.6 million from $269.3 million the prior year, primarily due to a 20% increase in revenue per order from last year to $2,772. The company also grew its container fleet by 15% to 25,000 containers. Intermodal income from operations increased 121% to $54.6 million from $24.7 million. This was primarily driven by revenue management and network execution, Schneider said.
The logistics segment saw Q4 revenue increase 46% to $547.5 million from $374.4 million. The Schneider FreightPower online marketplace helped lift the segment by adding agility to a dislocated freight market, Schneider said. Brokerage volumes also grew 23% year-over-year. Income from operations increased 73% to $37.4 million from $21.6 million. This was primarily due to volume growth and technology-optimized net revenue management.
The FreightPower platform provides its users with access to capacity and freight. Rourke noted the integrated multimodal approach offered by the platform is resonating with the needs of a diversified customer base.
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“Customers have been supportive of addressing inflationary cost being introduced in the business in support of higher wages, equipment and other variable cost categories,” Rourke said. “We do expect to continue to address inflationary costs through our 2022 renewals across our segments.”
Schneider announced Jan. 19 that it is expanding intermodal service by moving its primary western rail partnership to Union Pacific. The transition is expected to be completed in 2023.
“This partnership aligns with our intermodal growth strategy and our environmental goal to reduce carbon emissions,” Jim Filter, senior vice president of intermodal at Schneider, said during a Feb. 3 conference call. “Our plan to double our intermodal business by 2030 is rooted in both our expectation of increased market demand for environmentally friendly capacity and our goal to grow faster than the market.”
Schneider ranks No. 7 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America, and No. 15 on the TT list of the Top 50 largest logistics companies.
