CEVA losses narrow despite lower revenues in 2016

The Netherlands-based third-party logistics provider posted a loss of $159 million in 2016 compared with a $195 million loss the previous year as revenues fell 4.5 percent to $6.65 billion, according to the company’s most recent financial statements.    CEVA Holdings LLC posted a $159 million loss for the full year in 2016 compared with a $195 million loss the previous year, according to the company’s most recent financial statements.
   The Netherlands-based third-party logistics provider saw total revenues fall 4.5 percent to $6.65 billion compared with 2015. CEVA noted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, debt and amortization (EBITDA) were relatively flat compared the previous year in constant currency at $272 million, “despite difficult peak season trading.”
   The company attributed the revenues decline primarily to decreases in air and ocean freight rates in the first half of the year.
   CEVA’s freight management division, which includes international air, ocean, ground, customs brokerage, deferred air, and other value-added services, reported EBITDA before specific items of $65 million in 2016, a 1.6 percent increase from the prior year. Freight management revenues dropped 5.7 percent year-over-year to $3 billion despite air and ocean freight volumes increasing 6.7 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, due to “difficult peaks trading and a general increase in rates following the Hanjin bankruptcy,” the company said.
   EBITDA before special items in CEVA’s contract logistics unit, on the other hand, tumbled 13.5 percent to $147 million for the year. Revenues in the division were down 3.5 percent year-over-year to $3.6 billion.
   CEVA CEO Xavier Urbain said in a statement he is bullish on the prospects for 2017 in spite of the continued losses.
   “Despite industry-wide challenges in 2016, our full year results demonstrate that we continue to make positive headway,” he said. “In this context, I am very pleased with the Q4 performance where CEVA demonstrated healthy growth in all business lines and visible impact of our excellence program which supported us to deliver robust EBITDA in spite of the difficult peaks trading. The quarter also saw an impressive recovery in net working capital and strong cash flow.
   “Overall, 2016 was a year of significant progress in the transformation of CEVA, during which we had some important business wins, successfully addressed legacy issues and we continued to build a much stronger platform,” he added. “The strong improvement in results, in many of our markets, were overshadowed by weaker performance in some countries, which we continue to address. We enter 2017 in a stronger position and I am confident that we will have a much better performance with our excellence program leading to further cost savings.”