Arkansas Best Corp. Earnings Up

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Less-than-truckload freight hauler Arkansas Best Corp. on Oct. 21 reported a rise in third-quarter earnings, something analysts credit with the demise of rival Consolidated Freightways.

Consolidated, of Vancouver, Wash., shut down its United States trucking operations in early October and filed for U.S. Bankruptcy Court protection.

Arkansas Best, headquartered in Fort Smith, is the parent company of ABF Freight System Inc.

Arkansas Best reported its third-quarter net income rose to $18.3 million, or 73 cents per share, from $13.0 million, or 52 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company also said it got a boost of 12 cents per share from a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service and of 9 cents per share associated with the after-tax gains on sales of excess freight facilities at ABF.

Arkansas Best saw its operating revenues slip to $375 million in the third quarter from $381 in the same quarter one year ago. Third quarter 2002 revenues at ABF Freight System, its largest subsidiary, were $336 million compared to $330 million during the third quarter of 2001.