USA Truck Shrinks Q3 Loss
by October 17, 2013 7:00 am 82 views
Under siege in a hostile takeover bid, USA Truck reported a significantly smaller third quarter net loss than one year ago citing turnaround improvements paying off.
The Van Buren-based trucking company posted a $602,000 net loss compared to a $6.07 million loss one year ago. Revenues for USA Truck climbed higher by 13.5% to $113.9 million during the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2013.
“The continued, accelerating improvement in our results clearly illustrates the rapid progress we’re making in our turnaround. The third quarter of 2013 marked our fourth consecutive quarter of substantially improved operating and bottom-line results,” said President and CEO John Simone.
“Our 830-basis-point improvement in operating margin reflects the success of the wide range of operational, marketing, and cost initiatives that our expanded and reinvigorated management team has implemented. Our go-to-market efforts have helped us gain market share, including the addition of highly-desirable Fortune 100 shippers to our list of top 10 customers.”
There was no mention of Knight Transportation’s effort to acquire USA Truck in its earnings release.
Last month, Phoenix, Ariz.-based Knight announced it had increased its ownership of USA Truck shares, and claimed that “several” large shareholders’ groups supported Knight’s $9 per share offer for USA Truck. Knight made public its bid for USA Truck on Sept. 26.
USA Truck officials will hold a conference call with investors later this morning where they will undoubtedly be asked for comment on the takeover bid.
USA Truck shares closed trading on Wednesday (Oct. 16) at $9.05. The company’s stock has traded between $2.65 a share and $9.33 a share during the past year.