Horizon third quarter profit off 24%

Horizon third quarter profit off 24%    Horizon Lines Inc. said it had third quarter profit of $8.4 million, 24 percent less than the $11.1 million earned in the same 2008 period.
   Revenue for the Jones Act carrier in the quarter ending Sept. 20 was $308 million compared to $352.6 million in the same 2008 period.

Raymond

   Chuck Raymond, Horizon’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said volumes were down 5.7 percent when compared to the third quarter of 2008, but that this “was an improvement over the past three quarters. We maintained stable margins relative to a year ago, although revenue-per-container rates were flat. More than half of the 12.6 percent revenue decline was due to reduced fuel surcharges, as fuel prices were significantly lower than 2008.”
   “We face a challenging fourth quarter, which we expect to be characterized by lingering economic weakness that will continue to impact volumes to varying degrees across all of our trade lanes, as well as in our logistics business,' Raymond said. 'While our third quarter volume performance indicates we might be coming off the bottom, we expect the recovery to be slow, muted and disparate.”