C.H. Robinson net income up 16.6 percent

The global third-party logistics provider has its sights set on further investing in technology after posting a year-over-year increase in revenues of nearly 15 percent.    C.H. Robinson posted a net income of $142.3 million for the first quarter of 2018, up 16.6 percent year-over-year, as the company is benefiting from a lower effective tax rate.
   The Minneapolis-based firm also saw a 1.5 percent year-over-year boost in aggregate transportation volumes during the quarter as increased demand and the lack of available capacity has been fueling a robust freight market.
   Diluted earnings per share of $1.01 increased from 86 cents for the first quarter of last year.
   Revenues totaled $3.9 billion, up 14.9 percent year-over-year.
   However, despite strong revenues, rising costs, particularly in global forwarding, resulted in income from operations only inching up 1.9 percent year-over-year to $191.6 million.
   C.H. Robinson’s earnings per share and revenues surpassed the Zacks consensus estimate of $1.01 per share and estimated revenues of $3.8 million.
   C.H. Robinson closed out the quarter with 15,101 employees, up from 14,432 employees at the end of last year’s first quarter, as the number of employees in its global forwarding segment increased 21.4 percent year-over-year, partially due to the acquisition of Milgram & Company in the third quarter of 2017.
   The Milgram deal strengthened C.H. Robinson’s global forwarding and customs brokerage offerings in Canada.
   C.H. Robinson expects its capital expenditures for 2018 to total between $60 million and $70 million, with the majority dedicated to technology.
   “As our business grows, we increasingly rely on technology,” C.H. Robinson Chairman and CEO John Wiehoff told less-than-truckload technology provider SMC³. “For example, through our Navisphere technology platform, we connect with more than 200,000 companies and now execute 45 million digital transactions for customers each month.”
   Wiehoff will be one of the keynote speakers at the Connections 2018 supply chain conference, which will be held June 25-27 in Greenbrier, W.Va.