C.H. ROBINSON SEES STRONG THIRD-QUARTER GAINS

C.H. ROBINSON SEES STRONG THIRD-QUARTER GAINS    C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., the Minneapolis-based multimodal and logistics service provider, reported a 14.7-percent increase in third-quarter net income, to $26 million.
   Gross profits rose 8.7 percent to $123.1 million, while operating income increased 21.8 percent to $42.4 million. Revenue was $872.2 million, up from $784.5 million for the year-earlier period.
   'We're encouraged that growth in our core truck business is strengthening,' said John P. Wiehoff, chief executive officer of C.H. Robinson. 'Our other modes have performed well this year, and again contributed solid results.'
   Transportation gross profits increased 7.8 percent to $104.2 million, while all transportation modes grew during the quarter. The truck transportation business increased 5.2 percent to $91.0 million, driven by volume growth, as gross profit per transaction declined due to rising costs of capacity. Intermodal (up 41.5 percent to $5.7 million), ocean (up 18.9 percent to $4.3 million) and air (up 54.3 percent to $830,000) growth was due to increased volume.
   For the first nine months of 2002, net income increased 13.6 percent to $72.0 million. Gross profits increased 4.0 percent to $358.3 million, while operating income rose 16.4 percent to $117.2 million. Revenue was $2.45 billion, up from $2.31 billion in 2001.