Werner Enterprises Reports Net Income Down 18% in First Quarter
Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN), one of the nation’s largest transportation and logistics companies, reported that first quarter earnings dropped by 18 percent to $14.339 million as compare to $17.511 million in the comparable prior period.
Operating income for the period also dropped 18 percent while revenues were flat at $492 million as compared to the first quarter of 2013.
The company noted that: “First quarter 2014 freight demand (as measured by the daily morning ratio of loads to trucks in our One-Way Truckload network) showed the strongest first quarter performance in 10 years.
“A combination of several factors contributed to the demand strength, including:
(1) the early timing of the 2014 Chinese New Year,
(2) relatively lean retail customer inventory levels following the fourth quarter 2013 holiday season,
(3) multiple severe winter storms that created a backlog of truckload freight shipments and also caused some severely delayed intermodal freight shipments to shift to truckload,
(4) the preamble of a strong December 2013 freight market and
(5) a tightening of truck capacity due to increasing trucking company failures, an extremely challenging driver market, expensive new trucks and increasing federal safety regulations.”
Average revenues per total mile, net of fuel surcharge, rose 3.1% in first quarter 2014 compared to first quarter 2013.
During first quarter 2014, the company noted that it “continued to increase our emphasis on minimizing empty miles and maximizing utilization in our One-Way Truckload fleet.”
Category: General Update
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