UTi’s profits soar

UTi’s profits soar    Rancho Dominguez-based forwarding and logistics firm UTi Worldwide Inc. reported net income of $23.6 million for the fourth quarter of its 2006 fiscal year ended Jan. 31, up 143 percent compared to $9.7 million a year ago.
   UTi’s operating income for the most recent quarter increased 87 percent to $32.8 million, from $17.5 million. Gross revenues increased 31 percent to $951.3 million.
   The company witnessed double-digit revenue improvements across all its divisions with air freight forwarding up 15 percent to $357.7 million; ocean freight forwarding up 16 percent to $252.8 million; contract logistics up 22 percent to $144.4 million; customs brokerage up 13 percent to $22.4 million; and distribution and other making the biggest leap, up 186 percent to $173.9 million.
   Quarterly net revenues rose 31 percent to $331.2 million, compared to $253.7 million in the prior year period.
   UTi said the record fourth quarter revenue growth was due to continued organic growth across all geographic regions, as well as contributions from its March 2006 acquisition of Market Industries, a Portland, Ore.-based provider of third-party logistics services and multimodal transportation capacity services specializing in truck brokerage.
   For the full fiscal year, UTi’s net income increased 95 percent to $107.9 million with operating income gaining 61 percent to $158.6 million. Annual gross revenues increased 28 percent to $3.6 billion while net revenues totaled $1.2 billion, up 24.9 percent.