Arkansas Best Ends Year with $7.7 Million Loss
by January 30, 2013 10:59 am 72 views
Higher labor costs and a late-October storm contributed to Arkansas Best Corp.’s losses for the fourth quarter and fiscal year, the company said Wednesday.
Along with lost revenue and profit opportunities, returned shipments had to be re-handled and re-delivered as businesses remained closed for days after Hurricane Sandy, a company news release stated.
Before the markets opened Wednesday, the Fort Smith-based holding company reported a loss of $7.93 million, or 31 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared to earnings of $1.4 million, or 5 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Seventeen analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a loss averaging 4 cents per share.
Total revenue rose 15.92 percent from a year earlier, to $537 million.
ABF Freight System Inc., the company’s largest subsidiary, accounts for more than 90 percent of Arkansas Best’s revenue.
While ABF Freight’s revenue for the year remained flat, the carrier posted an operating loss of $19.4 million, including $3.8 million related to higher workers’ compensation expenses.
For the year, Arkansas Best posted a net loss of $7.73 million, or 31 cents per share, compared to earnings of $6.33 million, or 23 cents per share, the previous year.
Revenue rose 8.38 percent to $2.07 billion.
The company’s efforts to return to profitability focus on lowering its cost in the next labor contract, which is currently being negotiated, president and CEO Judy McReynolds said in a news release.
“ABF’s management team is hopeful it will reach an agreement with the Teamsters that allows us to preserve good-paying jobs and protect our employees’ retirements through a lower cost structure that truly reflects the competitive nature of today’s [less-than-truckload] marketplace,” McReynolds said.
Last week, the company’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 3 cents per share to holders of record of its common stock on Feb. 7. The dividend will be payable Feb. 21.
In late-morning trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq, shares were at $9.71, down 8.65 percent or 92 cents per share from the previous day’s close. The company’s stock has traded between $6.43 and $19.50 in the past year.