J.B. Hunt sees earnings, revenue dip; still focused on intermodal
by July 14, 2009 9:55 pm 68 views
Not even the well-diversified national transportation company J.B. Hunt Transport Services has been able to escape the downward pressures of the national economy.
The Lowell-based company reported Tuesday (July 14) that its net income for the first six months of 2009 was $54.80 million, down 37% from the same period in 2008. Total operating revenues during the first half of 2009 were $1.49 billion, down 24.3% from the same period in 2008.
Company officials blamed lower fuel surcharges, a one-time charge to write down the value of tractors the company intends to sale, lower prices for services and continued weak freight demand resulting from the national recession.
However, J.B. Hunt President and CEO Kirk Thompson offered some hope of improvement in the national freight recession.
“We saw evidence in the current quarter of gradual improvement in demand which has been soft for three years,” Thompson said in the quarterly earnings statement.
Despite the potential improvement in freight demand, the company’s net income in the second quarter was $24.04 million, down more than 52% compared to the same quarter of 2008.
The company had 9,649 tractors at the end of the second quarter, an 8.4% decrease from the 10,545 it operated at the end of the 2008 second quarter.
Continued investments in its intermodal operations continues to point to a company that is determined to rely less on the traditional trucking business model and more on a freight brokerage business.
“We believe that, as our rail partners continue to make multi-year investments to improve service and network efficiency, and as shippers remain under economic and environmental pressure to find sustainable alternatives to truck, the long term outlook for our intermodal business is very attractive,” the company noted in the quarterly statement. “As a result, it is important for us to continue to make strategic investments even in the midst of these harsh market conditions.”
J.B Hunt has about 40,000 containers in intermodal use (rail to truck, truck to rail), and the company says it is continuing to add new steel containers to replace the older, higher-maintenance units.
Shares of J.B. Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT) closed Tuesday at $29.62, up 54 cents. The company reported earnings after the markets closed. During the past 52 weeks, the share price has ranged from a $40.25 high to an $18.14 low.