YRC Worldwide Reports First-Quarter Loss

LTL Cites Improving Financial Picture
YRC Freight truck carrying a load
TT File Photo

YRC Worldwide announced a net loss of $14.6 million in the first quarter, yet the result marked a nearly $11 million improvement when compared with the year-ago period, when it lost $25.3 million, the less-than-truckload carrier announced May 3.

Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.22 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. In 2017, first-quarter revenue was $1.17 billion.

The loss per share was $0.44 compared with $0.78 in 2017. Analyst expectations put the loss per share at $0.71.

YRC Worldwide says its outstanding debt improved to $918.7 million, a decrease of $86.1 million from $1.005 billion as of March 31, 2017.



Even with the smaller loss compared with 2017, this marks the 11th consecutive year YRC has ended the first quarter in the red.

The company lost $3.2 million on the disposal of property versus a $2.7 million loss in 2017. Salaries, wages and employee benefit costs climbed to $729.7 million from $718.4 million in 2017, even as YRC last May cut 180 management and other nonunion jobs in a streamlining effort to make the Overland Park, Kan.-based business more efficient. Fuel, operating and supply costs also increased, to $230.2 million from $216.3 million.

“We are executing our strategy to secure the right price and freight mix in our networks while onboarding a significant amount of revenue equipment in 2018,” YRC Worldwide CEO Darren Hawkins said in a statement. “During the quarter, we took delivery of more than 500 tractors and approximately another 400 scheduled for delivery in 2018. We also took delivery of more than 400 trailers with approximately another 2,100 expected to be delivered in 2018.”

YRC Worldwide ranks No. 5 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest North American for-hire carriers.