American Commercial reports profit increase

American Commercial reports profit increase The barge operator and builder American Commercial Lines Inc. said its third quarter profit reached $18.3 million compared to $15.9 million in the same 2007 period.
   Revenue was $313.7 million, up from $258.4 million in the third quarter of 2007.
   The transportation segment’s revenue was $244 million, a 12 percent increase, driven by higher pricing on contracts of affreightment, higher outside towing and charter/day rate revenues and higher revenue from scrapping barges, partially offset by lower ton-mile volumes. The company said slightly more than two-thirds of the affreightment rate increases were driven by fuel escalations under the company’s contracts.
   The company said total volume measured in ton-miles declined in the first nine months of 2008 to 29.6 billion ton-miles from 32.6 billion in the prior year period, mostly because of inclement weather and severe flooding.
   The company’s Jeffboat business, which builds barges, had third quarter revenue of $57.2 million compared to $40.6 million during the same period last year. The company noted that was partly attributable to additional liquid barge sales, higher steel pricing and less internal builds.
   It said operating margins at Jeffboat improved because of improved labor utilization in the shipyard and the reduction in build hours per barge. It noted that through the first nine months of the year, it had not completed any barges for internal use by ACL, but was selling barges to third parties. The shipyard has also changed its mix of equipment, building more liquid tank barges rather than dry hopper barges.